When You Wish Upon a Materia
by XD
Summary: Cloud summons Leviathan, and the critter refuses to go away. The only solution may be to go back in time, so Cloud is understandably concerned. It's like they always say: Be careful what you wish for!
1. Chapter One

**Standard disclaimers apply.**

**Crisis Core ate my brains, chewed it up, and spat this out. Please tread carefully. There is crack everywhere here. **

**--------------------  
WHEN YOU WISH UPON A MATERIA  
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CHAPTER ONE**

"Vincent!" Cloud all but shrieked.

"Yes, Cloud?" Was Vincent's amused reply.

"Do you know where this place is?!" Cloud growled.

"I believe it is the Shinra Military Training Centre," Vincent nodded gravely.

"Why am I here?!" Cloud attempted to reach out to throttle his calm friend, but alas, his friend was merely a projected image on an empty wall.

"The correct explanation to that would be: You have just been sent back in time."

"I KNOW that!" Cloud threw his hands up into the air. "Why Shinra, why at this era, and how in the world did this happen?!" He paused. "And do you have any idea how many times this 'Let's Shove Cloud Back In Time' setting has been abused to date already?!"

Vincent tilted his head to a side. "One more wouldn't kill anybody."

There proceeded to occur ten seconds of silence.

"What were we just talking about?" Cloud blinked.

Vincent shrugged.

"Anyway," Cloud sighed, "I would like to hear an explanation, please. This wasn't what I signed up for."

Vincent nodded to that. "I suppose it is only fair."

--

Every story has a beginning.

And this one begins somewhere... in the future.

In the future, in a certain laboratory, there were three men and one flying snake gathered around a table, looking sombre.

"Let us run this through again..." said the tiniest man among the three around the table. "So far, we have completed a few phases of our experiment codenamed Summon Creatures. Phase One, we tested if it was possible to call upon summon creatures without the aid of summon materia. The experiment proved that it is possible - by using a large amount of MP as bait while standing near a location close to the flow of Lifestream, we can lure the summon creature from their dimension into ours."

As if on cue, Leviathan the summon creature floated forward and spurted some water at the trio, wetting the paper on the table.

"Professor Odine, is there any way we can get rid of this thing?" One of the other men pointed at the affronted-looking flying snake and sighed.

Odine eyed the man wearily. "Shut up and let me finish explaining, Cloud Strife," he said, then continued, "Phase Two tested how long the summon creature could appear under such a summoning. The experiment proved that the summon creature will remain in this dimension... as long as the summoner still has MP..." He looked pointedly at Cloud.

"This thing has been around for the past two weeks!" Cloud said, slamming the table with both hands for dramatic effect. "And it follows me everywhere! Do you have any idea how weird it is to be walking around in broad daylight with a summon creature hot on your heels, lashing out at anything that even comes near?!"

Leviathan hissed in approval. Beside Cloud, the third of the men chuckled politely.

"It's not funny, Vincent!"

The man who had chuckled - Vincent, merely quirked his lips upwards in reply.

"That would be Phase Three," Odine sighed, "where we tested how the summon creature reacted to its summoner and the people around him. Apparently, anybody whom the creature is not familiar with will be attacked until told otherwise. Like a very faithful guard dog... very very interesting..." The tiny man scribbled something on the notes he had in front of him.

"Go away, you stupid snake!" Cloud, however, was not paying attention already. He pointed at a random corner of the laboratory while he shouted, as the snake had started spurting water at his hair. Upon hearing that, Leviathan roused itself slightly, glided over to the corner, and coiled up obediently.

"Phase Four, we tested if the creature could understand human language," Odine continued, ignoring Cloud's loud sighing in the background. "It does." He scribbled something else on the notes. "Only listens to its summoner, though," he added, as an afterthought.

"You're in a bit of a hysterical fit today, Cloud," Vincent observed.

Cloud blinked at his friend. "Sorry," he scratched his head absentmindedly. "I haven't had a good night's rest for a while. Leviathan just keeps squirting water at me when I'm trying to sleep."

At the mention of its name, Leviathan rose into the air again and glided towards Cloud, hissing happily.

"Maybe you should try to tell it to stop," Vincent said with the air of an amused sage.

Cloud stared at the flying snake for a while. "Okay, Leviathan, listen very carefully..." The snake hissed in reply. "I want you to stop squirting water at anything and anybody, including me, unless I tell you to, do I make myself clear?"

Leviathan paused for a second. Then it squirted a stream of water at Cloud and started to twirl and dance in the air.

The wet Cloud reached out with one hand and had the thing in a death-grip around the neck in an instant. "Are you listening to me!!" He shouted at the struggling snake, who started turning bluer in the face than it already was. Oblivious, Cloud shook it around a bit. "I have half a mind to just start a fire here and roast you for dinner..."

"And finally Phase Five, where we tested how to send the creature back to its dimension..." Odine droned on, ignoring the scene going on in the background, which he was more or less accustomed to by now. He peered at the notes he had picked up from the table. "Reducing the MP of the summoner by artificial means did not work." He shook his head. "Cloud Strife has way too much MP for any machine we have currently to completely artificially reduce it, and there is no spell that he can cast to completely deplete his MP either."

"In short, it is entirely your fault that we haven't been able to send Leviathan back for a while now," Vincent stated. Rather smugly, too.

Cloud whipped around and flung the by-now comatose Leviathan at Vincent. The snake smacked Vincent squarely in the face.

"I know you have lived a very long time, Cloud Strife," Professor Odine narrowed his eyes at the fuming mercenary, "but this is getting quite ridiculous. At this rate, you will have the creature with you all the rest of your life."

Cloud actually turned pale in the face at that. "Please tell me that's not true."

"I wish I could, young man," Odine turned and walked towards a contraption that was tucked away in a corner of the laboratory. "Wait... you are technically older than me... and that would mean..." He paused, shaking his head. "...nevermind. Come here, gentlemen." He gestured for Cloud and Vincent to join him. "Now, what do you think we've got here?" He said with slight glee in his voice, patting the machine beside him happily.

"A machine," Cloud answered, in all seriousness.

Odine thwapped him upside the head. And it was a funny thing to watch, Vincent observed, as Odine had to actually climb up a nearby stool to do it. He was much shorter than Cloud, and that was saying something.

After clambering down from the stool, Odine pat the machine again and explained, "This, my immortal friends, is a time machine."

"A time machine," Cloud parroted, while rubbing his head.

"A time machine," Vincent blinked, as all the possibilities suddenly flooded his mind.

"A time machine," Odine said triumphantly.

"What's that got to do with the experiment, though?" Cloud tilted his head to a side and asked.

"Well, my boy," Odine started to pace. "What do you think time machines do?"

"Umm..." Cloud put two fingers to his chin. "They do things to time?"

"Something like that," Odine's head bobbed up and down with agreement. "To be specific, this machine is a special apparatus that can send someone back to any particular moment of their life while maintaining a link to the present - or, the future, for the person being sent back."

"Okay..." Cloud said slowly, "...but what has that got to do with the experiment?" He repeated his question, still confused.

"Do you not see, Cloud?" It was Vincent who chose to spoke up this time. "Do you remember what Phase Five of the experiment is supposed to be?"

Cloud looked at the floor for a while, then snapped up. "We're supposed to send Leviathan back!" He exclaimed, as if it had suddenly struck him. "And because Leviathan is leeching my MP to stay in this realm, if you send me back in time, my MP will decrease exponentially, and Leviathan will be forced to return!"

Leviathan had awoken from its comatose state and glided over yet again, upon hearing its name. It curled up around Cloud's shoulders and flicked a forked tongue out at its audience, much to Cloud's displeasure, but the blond decided against doing anything for now.

Beside him, Vincent was nodding away in approval. "MP capacity increases over time, and having lived rather long, your MP is frankly quite monstrous at the moment. The only way we can suppress it now, will probably be... to send you back to a period in time, when you didn't have so much MP yet." He looked towards Professor Odine. "Is that right, Professor?"

"That is correct," Odine looked pleased. His face then darkened. "However, this apparatus sends you back wholesale - physical body and all - meaning it is entirely possible that you might still maintain your current MP even if you get sent back. As we have never fully tested how MP limits stretch over the course of time travelling, that is something we will have to observe for future reference," he muttered the last line quietly and hurriedly.

Fortunately for him, Cloud's mind stopped paying attention by the first sentence. "If it's not written in stone that I can reduce my MP by being sent back in time, why should we go through with this notion at all?" Cloud frowned. "I don't get it."

"Think of it this way, Cloud," Vincent spoke up. "There are still many untested theories to time travelling, and one of it could involve a factor that might help you be rid of the creature you do not seem to like having around." He nodded towards Leviathan. "Perhaps your MP might not go down at all. However, your being sent back in time means that Leviathan will most probably be unable to follow. How long can a summon creature last in this realm without being able to feed on your MP when you are gone? There are other unknown things that may free you from your bind to the creature, as well. All in all, I feel that it is not a bad thing to stake on."

Cloud lowered his head in contemplation, obviously thinking about what Vincent had just said.

The silence was a good sign, Odine decided. He quickly spoke up, "The apparatus operates like this - it will find a period of time in your lifespan and then switch your current self with your past self. That is convenient for our current experiment, as you will retain all your memories. We will be communicating with you via a time-portal communicator, which will broadcast images from the future back to you and vice versa. Here, wear this," Odine handed Cloud a necklace with a green materia on it. "This materia will act like an eye for us when you go back. If you wish to communicate with us, you only need to activate it like you would any other materia. We will observe you for maybe one to two days to monitor the situation and see what can be done about sending Leviathan back."

Cloud put the necklace over his head, stroking the materia absently. He closed his eyes in slight concentration, as if thinking about something. Then, opening his eyes, Cloud asked, "What will happen to my past self?"

"Like I mentioned," Odine said," you will trade places with your past self. However, in order not to confuse your past self, we will keep him in an induced unconscious state for as long as he dwells in this era."

"Will the past Cloud be damaged in any way?" Vincent cut in, slightly concerned.

"Perhaps he will be very groggy after he wakes at the end of experiment, but that will be all," Odine reassured. "After all, he will just be sleeping. The apparatus will see to it that his body is well maintained while he rests."

"Okay," Cloud frowned. He could see nothing imminently dangerous about the setting. They had worked with Odine for many years and the man was trustworthy, if a little eccentric. At the very least, they knew that this man had no ambition and knew where to draw the lines when it came to experiments. "What about me? I'll be there for only a day or two, right?"

At that, Odine gave him a pained look. "Ideally you will. However, we might not be able to retrieve you until we figure out how to deplete your MP completely or find another way to force Leviathan back into its proper dimension. Also, the time machine will need to be reprogrammed to be able to engineer your return. Give and take, I will say you might need to stay there for at least one week. But as far as observation goes, I am confident we will be able to come up with a solution to send Leviathan back by two days, if nothing major crops up."

"I see," Cloud muttered. He turned and looked at Vincent, as if asking for his opinion.

Vincent tilted his head to a side and gave a small shrug. There was no hint of disapproval in his features.

Cloud brooded for a bit, then turned to Odine. "Which part of my life are you going to swap me with?" He asked.

"Which part of your life would it be convenient for us to swap you with?" Odine countered with a raised eyebrow. "Do choose a time period where your MP can actually be depleted and when nobody in particular will notice you missing for a week or so."

Cloud frowned and considered his choices. "Maybe right after Meteor then," he eventually said. "My MP wasn't that uncontrollable at that time, and my job then often required me to be away for long periods of time, so..."

"Meteor?" Odine was perplexed. "What time period is that?"

Vincent laughed softly and walked over to the table with the spread out experiment notes. He gestured for Odine to go over. Once Odine was there, Vincent began to explain something to the scientist. Cloud assumed it was the calculations for the time period Cloud had referred to as 'after Meteor'. Deciding he would leave the complicated computation to Vincent, who had developed a sometimes more-than-healthy interest in science over the long years, he turned his attention instead to the machine that woud purportedly send him back in time and hopefully end his contract with Leviathan.

Speaking of Leviathan, Cloud glanced forlornly downwards at the king of the waters, who was now having a nice nap around his shoulders. He had not had much experience with summon creatures, besides the occasional call for them to help with a monster or two, and thus his understanding of them and how a summon spell actually worked bordered on miniscule. They worked and that was all he needed, right? Wrong, apparently. That was part of the reason why they had approached Odine. They knew him to be the most knowledgeable scientist on the matter of materia in the current world and he had principles, to boot. The professor had helped them solve much of the mystery surrounding normal materia in the past, and they had hoped that he could assist them with the mystery of the summons as well.

Simply put, Cloud and Vincent were curious about the technical details of a summon. How it happened, why it happened, what made it happen and nitty gritty things like that. They had had quite a lot of summons backfire on them before, and the results were almost always disastrous. Once or twice in a long while could be written off as bizarre accidents, but the rate at which they were backfiring recently was just too high to be ignored. At the very least, if they could experiment on how to terminate the summon before the creature lashed out at anything, they would have a trump card on their hands. And frankly, it was getting difficult to survive without summons. Some of the monsters in the current world had grown so strong against normal spells that nothing short of a summon could put them in their place.

Cloud snapped out of his thoughts when he noticed Vincent and Odine walking towards him.

"Well," Odine gestured towards the machine. "With your permission and cooperation, I would like to send you back to this time period 'after Meteor' in order to carry out the final phase of our experiment which will, hopefully, free you from your bond to Leviathan."

Something kept gnawing on the back of Cloud's mind, trying to tell him that this was not a good idea at all, but he gently brushed the feeling aside. It was either this, or he would have Leviathan stuck with him for the rest of his life.

And his life was endless, so that was going to be a bit of a problem.

Exchanging one last look with Vincent, who actually smiled encouragingly, Cloud sighed. He carefully set the stirring Leviathan aside on a table, and walked towards the machine.

Nothing had ever gone wrong before in Odine's lab.

Why would it now?

--

"And so while you were in the machine, Leviathan was rampaging all around the lab, trying to get to you, disrupting all the processes and messing up the calculations," Vincent finally reached the end of his tale. "And that was how you got sent back in time further than we originally intended for you to go."

Cloud stared at Vincent in disbelief.

"The creature is still here," Odine's voice could be heard from the background.

"What?" Cloud managed.

"Leviathan," Vincent explained. "It's still in the future. It didn't follow you back." He pointed at a spot where Cloud could not see from the projection. "In fact, it is keeping your unconscious younger self company at the moment."

Cloud quickly glanced around himself to confirm that the summon creature had truly not followed him back in time. All around him were the white-washed walls of the barracks, and he stood alone in the middle. He sighed in relief. "At least coming back in time was good for something."

Vincent's mouth twisted into something like a bitter smile. "Now we need to find out how to send Leviathan away before you come back."

Cloud shrugged. "That's your job now, not mine," he said, silently gleeful. He was about to say something else, when a series of loud bangs interrupted him.

"CLOUD! HOW LONG'RE YOU GONNA STAY IN THERE TALKIN' TO YOURSELF UNTIL?!" The voice of the person banging on the door roared. "YOU'RE NOT THE ONLY ONE WHO NEEDS TO GO IN THIS BUNK, OKAY?!"

"And your job," Vincent almost cackled, "is to try to stay alive and inconspicuous in the indomitable Shinra Military Training Centre until we can reprogram the machine to bring you back. I wish you godspeed, Cloud."

Cloud tried to swat the projected image of Vincent, but the amused man had long since cut off the connection.**  
**

**--------------------  
11 nov 2007  
tougenkyou . net / xd**

**a/n: oh gosh, i started another time travelling fic. somebody kill me now.**


	2. Chapter Two

**Standard disclaimers apply.**

**--------------------  
WHEN YOU WISH UPON A MATERIA  
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CHAPTER TWO**

Staying inconspicuous in the Shinra Military Barracks, as Cloud was soon to find out (again), was not going to be as easy as he had imagined it to be.

Problem one.

Cloud had the build of a young adult.

If his highly unreliable memory was to be trusted, Cloud was supposed to be fifteen to sixteen in this current time period. And that meant he was probably supposed to be shorter, since boys tended to shoot up at around their late teens.

Then again he had no idea how tall he was when he was really fifteen. Curse you, Hojo.

As his bunkmates had not noticed anything amiss when he finally emerged from the bunk toilet he had been hogging to communicate with the future in privacy, he had the impression that perhaps he was not too far off from his actual teen height after all.

That somehow made him slightly peeved.

Of course, he reasoned that it could be because his bunkmates were apparently having mass diarrhea and they were not exactly paying attention to minor things like... height.

One could always hope, Cloud sighed.

Problem two.

Cloud was way, way stronger than his sixteen year old self was supposed to be.

He could only hope very hard that there was not going to be any real life training this week. The next time he had some privacy to himself, he was going to need to ask Vincent for help on how he could pretend like he didn't know the flat side of a sword from the sharp.

Anything else... he would just have to improvise.

Problem three, the biggest problem of it all.

Cloud had glowing, Mako eyes.

This was going to be impossible to hide. He was going to have to need to either wear his helmet or cover his eyes with his hair all the time and look on the floor when he walked. And /those/ were certainly not the best of ideas. What was he going to do during classes and combat training? He could not possibly wear his helmet or look at the floor /all/ the time, anyway. What if instructors needed his attention? What if his bunkmates wanted to talk? What if he had to do night patrol? What if a SOLDIER noticed him? Worse yet - what if someone from the Science Department noticed him?!

Cloud buried his head in his hands and sighed.

This was going to be a long one week.

The materia on his necklace glowed, indicating that someone from the future was attempting to communicate with him. Glancing around quickly, Cloud saw that his bunkmates had finished their business with the toilet while he tortured his mind with how he was to survive this whole trip back in time intact and were now ambling around aimlessly. Taking advantage of the opportunity, he vamoosed into the solitary stall and slammed the door shut behind him, earning him a few gnarled complaining from the bunkmates who were standing nearby. Now, however, was not the time to be concerned about another person's sensitive eardrums.

"Cloud," Vincent said without preamble the moment Cloud activated the materia and projected him on the wall. "Something's wrong with Leviathan."

Cloud resisted thunking his head against the wall. "Define 'wrong'," he asked in resignation.

Vincent considered it for a while. "It's not moving," he eventually said.

"Poke it with your claw?" Cloud suggested.

"Already tried that. Still not moving." Vincent shook his head sadly.

Cloud did not know whether he was gaping at the fact Vincent had really tried poking at the summon creature with his claw, or that Leviathan was not moving despite that. Collecting his jaw, he said, "Maybe it's just tired. Let it alone for a while and it should be all right."

Vincent tilted his head to a side. "But it didn't move even when I gave your younger self a little smack on the cheek. It's usually so protective of you that I can't stand within two metres of you without getting hissed at."

Now that Vincent mentioned it, the situation did indeed seem strange. For Leviathan, at least.

Cloud was, however, more concerned about something else. "You smacked me?!"

"Technically I was shaking up your younger self," Vincent clarified. "But yes, I had to smack you around a bit to try to get Leviathan to act. However, it has remained silent and unmoving the whole time, and we are a little concerned."

A sudden, dreadful possibility crept into Cloud's mind, and he gulped quietly. "Could it be... dead?"

Vincent frowned. "I don't know if summon creatures can die, but we have checked the thing for vital signs and it is by all counts still clinically alive. It appears to be in a deep slumber, but we do not know what put it in such a state and whether it will awaken from its sleep at all."

It was Cloud's turn to frown. He ran a hand through his hair. "Well, as long as it's still alive, I guess all you can do is to keep observing it. More importantly, I need your help on something else."

Vincent raised an eyebrow. "You need help in pretending to be a sixteen year old again." He guessed, accurately.

"Yes," Cloud sighed. "I don't really remember how I was like at sixteen."

"Oh," Vincent was slightly taken aback. He had nearly forgotten about Cloud's twisted teenage life. It all seemed so minute in their long, epic journey together. Not knowing what best to say, he let the silence stretch.

"Actually, nevermind that," Cloud shook his head. He pointed to his eyes and continued, "I'll figure out a way to act sixteen. But this I really need help with."

Vincent squinted. "Your Mako eyes," he concluded.

Cloud nodded. "It's going to be a bit hard to stare at the ground all the time."

The older man leaned slightly backwards and folded his arms across his chest. He looked to a side in contemplation. "Confu," he said, after a long pause.

"Confu?"

"Yes," Vincent dug into his materia pouch and took out a small green shard. "You need to constantly cast Confu on anybody who looks at you. Since Confu is fundamentally a spell of illusion, you'll need to make it so that the other party sees what you want them to see. This will rely heavily on your control of the spell as well as your imagination," he flicked the materia and it touched the invisible barrier that separated past from future. After a short while, the materia emerged from the area Vincent was being projected on, much to Cloud's bewilderment. He opened his palms and caught the materia before it fell to the ground. "That is a shard of a Mystify materia. It'll look less suspicious than if I gave you another full materia, since you already have one around your neck."

"Wait," Cloud put a hand up. "Before you proceed... how is it that you are able to pass me things through the communication channel?"

"Well Cloud," Vincent smiled, and he definitely looked amused, "the fact that we are communicating means that there is some form of input and output going to and fro us. It would take a bit of genius to twist that channel so that tangible things can be transmitted as well, but apparently Professor Odine possesses that genius and has applied it to good use."

Cloud goggled. "Does that mean I can actually go back through this communication window anytime I wanted?"

"No," Vincent shook his head. "Odine has yet to find the formula for real-time transmission of large bodies of objects. For some reason, it currently only works on materia. The Planet could be involved, who knows," the man shrugged. "But I hope that what I have given you is enough to tide you through the week."

The blond stared at the shard for a while. Then, he carefully removed the jewel on his earring and placed the shard into the hollow space it freed up. He quickly tried doing as Vincent told, conjuring up to the best of his remembrance an image of his teenaged self - untainted by Mako then, and casting that illusion on himself by way of the Confu spell.

"The shard I gave you has very little powers compared to the actual materia," Vincent was saying, as Cloud concentrated on tying up the loose ends of the spell, "but it should be enough to hoodwink the other people in the Training Centre. Hmm. Good job," Vincent complimented, when the illusion spell wrapped itself around Cloud and a younger looking Cloud with normal looking eyes now stood before him. "If you can fool even me, nobody in the past should be able to figure you out."

"I hope so," Cloud muttered. He put a hand on his forehead. "I feel really out of sorts here."

Vincent smiled lightly. "Everything will be fine, Cloud," he said sincerely.

"You really think so?" Cloud stared at his closest companion with wide, questioning eyes. "It's so weird. How did I ever get talked into this?" He breathed in deeply. "I mean, really! The past!!" He shook his head and his features twisted as he tried to reason with himself in his mind. "...why do I suddenly have a bad feeling about this."

This time, Vincent laughed out loud. "Cloud," he said, "why do you worry so much? Keep your head low and the week will just fly by. Granted, you got sent back to the wrong stream of time, but the principle of the matter hasn't changed, has it? Concentrate on your mission, Cloud," the older man's eyes twinkled with something akin to amused exasperation.

"I don't know, Vincent," Cloud ran a hand through his head. "...what if I do something wrong?" He lifted his lowered eyes to look at his friend seriously in the eye. "...what if I... changed history?"

Vincent looked long and hard at his younger friend. "Do you want to?"

"No! I mean... yes, well I... used to think..." Cloud squeezed his eyes shut, breathed in, held his breath, then sighed loudly. He peeked up at Vincent from beneath his eyelashes. "...I don't know."

"That is a decision you might or might not eventually have to make, Cloud," Vincent said in a non-commital manner. "But in the meantime, I suggest you tackle one problem at a time." Previously stiff with attention, the man now relaxed and took on a more casual, relaxed pose. "This materia you have with you, you do not need to always project it on a surface to communicate with us. We'll leave that option for when we need to pass little things to each other, won't we?"

"You mean there's another way to use this materia?" Cloud asked.

"Certainly," Vincent nodded. "Deactivate the materia and try to access the spell on the second level," he nodded towards Cloud with his chin.

Quickly, Cloud did as told. The spell on the second level of the materia was also a communication spell, he found out. A communication spell that transmitted Vincent's voice directly to his mind, and his back.

'Can you hear me, Cloud?' Vincent asked.

'...Are we really doing what I think we're doing?'

'Well, what do you think we're doing?'

'I think we are talking to each other in our heads like a couple of madmen.'

'Correction - you are talking to me in your head like a madman. I am speaking out loud like a perfectly sane and normal human being into the machine's mouthpiece. Any other questions about the technicalities of this spell before we proceed?'

'...no, sir.'

Cloud could hear Vincent chortling lightly to himself in his head, and he had to bite his lips to prevent the pout that was threatening to show.

'Remember that Odine said this materia is something like our eye to the past?' Vincent eventually asked.

'Yes, I was wondering about that too,' Cloud replied. 'Does it mean you can actually--' He was interrupted by loud banging on the door. "Cloud get your arse outta that stall! We gotta go for that test!" '--...see what's going on in the past where I am? Through the materia and all that?' "Cloud! Come on! You know that rule about collective responsbility! If you're late we're all gonna be punished!" Cloud's head swirled a little as he tried to figure out who he was supposed to talk to and what he was supposed to say out loud and what he was not.

'Not really, Cloud,' Vincent's amused voice cut in through the loud shouting and door banging. 'I can not only see what the materia sees, I can also hear things. Much like watching a show. Very entertaining, I might add. And you really should answer your poor friend out there.'

Cloud growled. "I'll get you for this later, you know," he grumbled out loud.

"Get me for what? Get outta there before we break in, dude!" The impatient bunkmate gave the door one last bang.

"All right, all right! Leave the poor, innocent door alone!" Cloud grabbed the doorknob and turned. He pushed the door out, accidentally hitting the bunkmate who was standing outside and sending him flying halfway across the room with his superstrength.

"Oh crap," Cloud froze. He ran over to his fainted bunkmate and slapped him on his cheeks a couple of times. "Wake up, wake up... err... whatever your name was. Wake up!"

'You could just call him Bunkmate1 until you figure out what his real name is without arousing needless suspicion,' Vincent cut in smoothly.

'Nobody asked you! Shut up!'

"Whoa, what's going on here?" The other two bunkmates who were standing outside the room walked in to investigate the commotion and now hovered around at the entrance, goggle-eyed.

"Err... aah... ugh..." Cloud's eyes darted all over the room, trying to find something he could use as an excuse to explain the situation. And he could hear Vincent laughing in his head. 'Seriously, shut up, Vincent!' He thought-growled.

'You can just terminate the spell to get me out of your head, you know,' the older man sounded far too amused.

'What? No! I need your Turk brains here. Find me a plausible excuse by the split second! Quick!'

'Say he tripped on something on the floor, then.'

"He, ah, tripped on..." Cloud made a grab at the nearest thing lying on the floor. Which was a piece of uneaten cheese. "...the cheese! Yes, the cheese!" Cloud waved The Cheese around frantically. "Who left the cheese here, anyway? How dangerous! Look at what you've done!"

The two bunkmates by the door stared at Cloud.

"Well, whatever," one of them eventually found his voice. "But we're still gonna be late at this rate. Who's gonna cart that joker to the test centre?" He scratched his head.

"Oh, I've got him," Cloud heaved the man - who was bigger, by the way - over his shoulder and breezed towards the exit of the room. Noticing his two bunkmates still staring at him, he shrugged and asked, "What's wrong?"

"Cloud..." his bunkmate frowned at him. "...when did you get so strong?"

'Cloud, really, stop digging your grave any deeper than you have to,' Vincent tsked.

Cloud made a mental face at his friend. "I had exercise and a good diet," was his nonsensical reply to his bunkmates. He kept a straight face.

"What kind of diet?" The other bunkmate asked, as the four of them - one on Cloud's shoulder - trotted onwards to wherever their destination was supposed to be.

"Cheese," Cloud lifted his free hand, which was still holding the cheese.

"Cheese," repeated his bunkmates.

"Ugh-huh," Cloud nodded. He slowed down. "On second thoughts, this guy is too heavy and I don't think I can handle him after all... umm... help?" He lowered Bunkmate1 onto the floor and tried to sound as feeble as he could.

'Nice save, Cloud.'

'Vincent...'

'All right. I shall merely observe. Carry on.'

"Hah! I knew it!" The bigger of the two bunkmates still conscious, whom we shall call Bunkmate2, reached over and hoised one of Bunkmate1's hand over his shoulder. "Trying to one-up us in front of the SOLDIER, huh? Gotta hand it to ya, Cloud," he shook his head, and his tone was amiable despite what his words otherwise implied.

"Wouldn't dare to think about it," Cloud held both hands up. He noticed he still held the cheese and quickly he threw it onto the floor. "SOLDIER?" He blinked, remembering what his bunkmate had just mentioned.

"Yeah, for the test!" Bunkmate3 quipped, and he was obviously excited. "We've been looking forward to this all week! I totally cannot wait to see what my reading will be!" He danced forward and disappeared around a left turn. On the wall behind the junction, there was a signboard. Pointing towards the left, was a sign that read 'Test Centre'.

"...reading?" A sense of foreboding took root in the depths of Cloud's soul as he stepped nearer and nearer to the junction. When he took the same left turn his bunkmate earlier had, what he saw made him hold his breath.

There was a short line of other cadets, waiting to go into a brightly lit room. Beyond the clear glass doors of that room, Cloud could see a machine, a couple of military men in SOLDIER uniforms and some other men in white lab coats. One by one, the cadets were ushered towards the machine, where the men in white lab coats attached them to some wires, punched some buttons and took down some readings.

'Vincent!' Cloud mind-hollered. 'SOLDIERs!! Scientists!!'

Even Vincent knew when it was inappropriate to make a joke about something. 'Relax, Cloud. Relax. I don't see Hojo. This has to be just a normal, run-of-the-mill test.'

'But Vincent... I'm not. Normal, that is.' His eyes were already darting around furtively. 'I have to get out of here.'

'No, you don't need to draw attention to yourself by missing some routine test,' Vincent asserted firmly. 'Calm down and just take the test. They probably just want to do some readings. Heartbeat, blood pressure, the standard medical stuff.'

'I hope...' Cloud gulped as a boy who had just finished his test stumbled out of the room looking slightly dazed. The boy continued to walk down the corridor, and Cloud's eyes followed him until he was out of sight.

"What, nervous?" Bunkmate2 elbowed Cloud in the ribs and giggled skittishly. "Well, so am I." He whispered. "I mean, what if I get a bad reading? They'll probably take me off the list for failing something so simple!"

Cloud nodded slowly. The line began to inch forward and he noticed to his utter dismay that although he was the last of his bunk in the line, it would only be a short while before he had to step into that room and do whatever 'tests' those men in white had in store for him. "Umm..." he glanced quickly at Bunkmate2, who was in front of him. "...what test, actually?"

His bunkmate frowned at him. "You know? The test we've been talking about for ages? The one you couldn't wait to take because you needed this to be good to let you have a better chance to get into the SOLDIER program?"

"R...ight," Cloud nodded, putting on a serious look on his face. Up in front, he saw that Bunkmate2 was already stepping into the room. Bunkmate3 had dumped the fainted Bunkmate1 somewhere against the wall and a few medical staff on hand were trying to resuscitate him. Getting his mind back on track, Cloud continued, "Right. Yes. I can't fail this very important test. But I... err... I didn't prepare for it! Any... last minute tips?"

Bunkmate3 laughed out loud. He slapped Cloud on his back, even as Bunkmate2 stumbled out of the test room and the scientist called out for the next person to come in. "You're a funny one, Cloud," the boy was saying, shaking his finger at the blond. "It's the test we have to see how much MP we have, remember? Ain't no tips that's gonna make us better. MP's an inherent thing that doesn't change overnight, ya know." With that, Bunkmate3 walked into the room and sat on the machine as instructed.

Cloud's thoughts descended into poignant silence.

Over on the other side, he could hear Vincent's thoughts doing the same.

'This is not going to end well.'

'...I am afraid I agree,' Vincent replied, after a long pause. 'But from what I observe, this machine measures up to a scale of 999. If you hit that amount, which I am very sure you will, who will believe it? They will just assume it to be a freak accident, and by the time they finish filing all the paperwork for you to do a rescan on another machine, I'm sure I can wrestle something out of Odine that will help you with this predicament,' he finished, sagely.

"Next!" The scientist in the room shouted, and Cloud stiffened.

'Here goes nothing,' he walked into the room and sat on the machine as gestured.

The scientist expertly attached a few wires to Cloud's head and wrists. "Remember to breath and just relax, okay?" The man said in a bored tone, like he was saying this for the thousandth time. Which he probably was. Cloud nodded meekly. He closed his eyes and tried to will his MP to go down. "This'll be over in a second," the scientist was saying, as he flicked a button. He readied a pen and turned to look at the meter. "Your reading is..."

The machine exploded unceremoniously.

Cloud immediately pulled away from the seat and dove away to safety. Fortunately, it was the inside of the machine that had exploded first. That meant the seat had been relatively safe, until after Cloud had left it, as the flames from the explosion now licked at the apparatus, slowly consuming it whole. The blond stood at a corner of the room, staring at the burning machine with his mouth open. All around him, there was chaos of the highest order as the staff frantically tried to put out the fire. Most of the cadets, however, were staring in amazement at the equipment, much like how Cloud was.

'I just destroyed a 999 upper limit MP measuring machine,' Cloud was gaping even in his mind.

'You've destroyed machines that could measure more than that before, so I'm not really surprised here,' Vincent shrugged. How Cloud was able to tell Vincent was shrugging through their mind-link, he had no idea.

'Vincent, what should I do now?' Cloud was too busy being distraught at how to salvage the situation to bother with Vincent's wisecracks. 'What do I tell them? Will blaming this on bad design work? I mean, they've tested so many people, right? It's probably due for a breakdown this week, right?' He paused when he noticed he was talking to himself. 'Vincent?' He glanced up at the ceiling, pretending he could see his friend there.

The silence in his mind continued for a short while. Then there was static, and what sounded like the microphone on Vincent's side being hit. After enduring some more loud noises, Cloud finally heard Vincent's voice again. 'I'm sorry to be the bringer of bad news while you're trying to sort your past life out, Cloud, but Leviathan... I don't know what's happening. It's turning translucent.'

'Translucent?' Cloud blinked, staring at a particular spot on the ceiling. All around him, everybody continued on in a frenzy. 'And why is that a bad thing? Maybe it's going back to its dimension?'

'I certainly hope so, Cloud, but it isn't turning translucent in the same way the summons do when they return, and that is what's bothering me. In fact, it appears to be... fading in and out of visibility every now and then... oh. It's awake. What is it doing, professor? ...Hmm. That doesn't look very promising.'

'What? What's happening?' Cloud cocked his head to a side, imagining it might help him understand the situation going on at the future better.

'Cloud,' Vincent sounded stressed, 'Leviathan just disappeared.'

'Disappeared?' Cloud repeated with disbelief.

'To be a little more specific,' Vincent elaborated. 'Leviathan woke up for a while just now. It started flying around in circles and... a portal opened. Leviathan dived into the portal and vanished into thin air.'

The frown in Cloud's brow was so deep, it could put Cosmo Canyon to shame. 'Doesn't it need to be around me to hang out in our world? Maybe it really just went back home?'

'That is what we hope has happened. However the circumstances surrounding its disappearance are rather alarming, so we must be prepared for any possibility.'

'I guess,' Cloud shook his head. Someone shouted across the room loudly, jolting his mind back to the present. 'But what do I do with THIS?' He spread his arms slightly to indicate the burning machine in front of him.

'Fetch a pail?'

'Very funny, ha-ha. I meant what should I say to explain?' Cloud could hear a sudden commotion from outside the test centre room he was in. He ignored it, attributing it to be part of the pandemonium that was ensuing.

'Why bother? Just pretend you don't know anything. It should be fine. We'll get you a device that can fool these measurer machines soon.'

The commotion outside was getting louder. 'I'm really counting on you for this, Vinc--' The thought broke off and Vincent could hear Cloud shouting out loud. He noticed via the images the materia was transmitting that Cloud was turning towards a different direction. He suddenly understood the reason for Cloud's abrupt cutoff. "...are you seeing this, Vincent?"

'Yes. Yes I am, Cloud.'

"Please tell me you can explain this," the blond was so distracted that he forgot that he was not supposed to be saying all these things out loud. He was edging towards the exit of the test centre as he pleaded. Edging away from the creature that had appeared magically through the solid walls of the room.

'I did mention that Leviathan went through a portal and vanished somewhere.'

'You failed to mention that Leviathan went back in time,' Cloud's hand found the frame of the room door. '...to the same place I'm in.'

'We weren't very sure about its destination at that point of time. Now, however, we certainly are.'

The king of the waters emerged completely through the walls and hissed loudly, triumphantly. The spray of water that issued out from its mouth promptly doused the room entirely and put out the fire that was there. After the loud hiss, Leviathan turned its attention towards Cloud. A spark of what looked like joy ignited within the creature's eyes. It began to glide through the air to where Cloud stood, rooted to the spot.

'I don't think this is a good time for you to be demonstrating to the masses that you have Leviathan the summon creature under your complete control.'

'What should I do then?!'

'First things first, Cloud. Turn around and run. Like mad.'

Cloud turned around and ran. Like mad.**  
**

**--------------------  
21 nov 2007  
tougenkyou . net / xd**


	3. Chapter Three

**Standard disclaimers apply.**

x--x--x--x--x--x--x--x--x--x--x  
WHEN YOU WISH UPON A MATERIA  
x--x--x--x--x--x--x--x--x--x--x  
CHAPTER THREE

Cloud Strife has learnt something new this day in history.

Running is nice.

Running with a shrieking flying snake hot on your heels, is not.

"Out of my way! Please make way! Sorry! Excuse me! Get away, please, and thank you!" Cloud shouted out all the warnings he could pluck off the top of his head while stomping through the corridors of the Shinra Military Training Centre. The scenary flashed by in a blur. People walking along the corridors were forced to stop or plaster themselves against the nearest wall to avoid getting hit.

'Find a place with nobody around, Cloud,' Vincent suggested.

"You make it sound so easy, Vincent," Cloud retorted out loud, then clamped a hand over his mouth.

'Don't worry, you're running too fast for anybody to notice you talking to yourself,' his friend laughed over the mind-link.

Cloud growled. He deftly avoided running into a wall and made a sharp turn left. Leviathan did the same. The blond was dismayed to find that there were people lingering around in the new area he had ran into. He ignored the shouting and screaming he was causing in this area and concentrated on finding a place where there was no people. 'Why can't I just stop and let Leviathan catch up?' He grumbled in his mind.

'Because Leviathan is going to curl up around your neck like a tame little kitty and you do not want people to see that happening. Therefore, find a spot with nobody before you think about stopping, okay?'

At this point of time, Cloud was too busy avoiding people to answer back. After a short jostle through a throng of people who was coming out from who-knows-where, he stumbled into a room with a high ceiling, and even more people. He groaned. 'There're people everywhere!' He griped with frustration.

'Then find a place where there aren't any.' Vincent was enjoying this. Too much.

'I'm trying!' Cloud thought, then yelped as Leviathan swooped down in an attempt to give him a big, wet, snakey smooch. He scrambled to his feet and quickly ran down a path that was flanked by benches and tables. Astounded cadets sitting on the benches stared openly at him first, then Leviathan. Belatedly, Cloud realised that this was the military cafeteria. He glanced quickly around, then dove under a nearby table when Leviathan tried to smooch him again.

"What's going on here?" He heard someone ask over the din that was threatening to give him a most severe headache. Rolling out from under the table, he leapt to his feet and took off in a sprint.

"This big snake came out from nowhere and started chasing Cloud!" A voice that sounded like Bunkmate2's answered the first voice. Cloud ducked as Leviathan tried to pounce on him again, destroying a few benches when it missed.

"Cloud, get over here!" The first voice then shouted. Cloud frowned. It was not the voice of any of his bunkmates, but that voice sounded really familiar. "Cloud, come on!"

Without any pause in speed, Cloud turned and charged towards where he thought he was hearing the commanding voice from. A few cadets who were clamouring around to see the spectacle had to quickly step out of his way. Leviathan blazed down the same path among the crowd that Cloud was clearing. Cloud risked a glance backwards, aghast to see that Leviathan was going to catch up soon. He had nowhere to hide this time. Quickly he turned to look in front, trying to focus on simply running. He ran right smack into something hard and fell to the ground with a loud thud.

"Ow..." he put a hand over his face. Although in pain, he realised that he had something more important to focus on - his pursuer, who was rapidly catching up even as he turned to look at it, horrified. 'Oh man, Vincent,' Cloud thought despondantly, 'I'm never going to be able to explain this--'

There was a bright flash of light, and the sound of an unseen blade slashing through the air with inhuman speed. The flash of light cut through Leviathan like hot knife through butter, slicing the creature into two clean halves. At the very same moment, a searing hot pain burned through Cloud's consciousness, causing him to cry out. The bright light was swallowed up by darkness soon after. Before he completely passed out, Cloud saw the severed Leviathan parts slowly dissipating into thin air. He hoped that wherever it had gone to this time, it would stay out of trouble and preferably out of sight, if at all possible.

The darkness lasted for what seemed like an eternity and a short while.

When Cloud next opened his eyes, he was staring at the white ceiling of an unknown room. He blinked. 'Where am I?' He thought to himself.

'Cloud?' Vincent's familiar voice came over the mind-link. 'You're awake?'

Cloud sat up, looking down at the white sheets that covered him. He was in a bed at the infirmary, that much was apparent. He was unsure, however, as to the reason of his presence here.

'Somebody hit Leviathan rather hard just now,' Vincent explained, as if able to see Cloud's uncertainty - which by all accounts would not be too far-fetched considering he was reading Cloud's thoughts, 'and then you blacked out. A nice man in a SOLDIER uniform carried you here, but he had to leave with a Turk who came by just now. I believe you can leave too, if you let the infirmary doctor know that you're fine.'

The blond looked down at his hands. He flexed them, testing his reflexes. They seemed perfectly okay. 'Why did I pass out?' Cloud frowned. 'Did it have something to do with Leviathan getting attacked?'

Vincent coughed slightly. 'Cloud, you should know the reason. Remember that summon creatures require a medium to project themselves in our world? Usually that medium is materia. When a summon creature is damaged or otherwise defeated, that materia likewise becomes damaged or dies. Leviathan... well, your Leviathan at any rate, it was summoned with you as the medium. More specifically, your MP is the medium it's using to project itself. When it got hit just now - quite an astounding hit, at that - the part of your mind controlling your MP received that damage as well. Apparently it was unprepared and thus was unable to withstand the strike. That's why you blacked out.'

'Oh,' Cloud clenched his fists together. 'What happened to Leviathan then? I saw it getting cleaved into halves...'

'According to the readings we have,' Vincent was saying, 'Leviathan is still alive. There's no sign of it anywhere near you, though. Maybe it's hiding somewhere.'

While Vincent was speaking, Cloud examined the room. When he turned to his right, where there was a table beside the bed, his movements jerked to a stop. 'Vincent,' his mind-voice sounded strained, 'Leviathan is right there on the table.'

There was a short pause. At length, Vincent said, slowly, 'I don't see anything there, Cloud.'

Cloud frowned. He stared at the table, where he could clearly see the curled up, sleeping form of the water dragon. He rubbed his eyes and stared again. Leviathan was still there. Wrapping his hand around the materia on the necklace he was wearing, he swung it around a little. 'Are you sure this thing's not broken? Because Leviathan is definitely there.'

'Stop swinging the camera, Cloud,' came Vincent's quick retort. Another pause. 'I still don't see it. But I can see the rest of the room perfectly fine.'

'That's... strange,' Cloud was confused. He looked at Leviathan again, breathing a deep breath in. "Leviathan," he said out loud. The snake immediately lifted its head from the curls of its body. It stuck a forked tongue out and hissed softly. "Come," Cloud beckoned at the summon creature, who was all too eager to obey. It slowly uncurled itself and glided over, settling itself on the blanket in front of Cloud. 'Okay Vincent, can you see it now?'

'No.'

Cloud took the materia pendant and held it as close to the snake as he could. 'Now?'

'No... wait, Cloud,' Vincent called out, a hint of an idea in his voice. 'Try commanding Leviathan to become visible.'

'What?' Cloud raised an eyebrow in disbelief. 'You really think that's going to work?'

'It listened to you when you asked it over, didn't it? No harm trying.'

The blond stared long and hard at the slippery creature in front of him. "Are you invisible?" He eventually asked. Leviathan hissed. Cloud had no idea what it was saying. "If you are, can you make yourself visible?"

Leviathan hissed again.

'...I see it now, Cloud.'

'What? But nothing happened! Leviathan didn't do anything... except hiss.'

'This may seem ridiculous to you, Cloud,' Vincent sounded brooding, 'but I certainly saw Leviathan slowly shimmering back into view just now. Almost like a ripple in mid-air. It's really quite interesting.'

'So... it was invisible just now, until I commanded it to show itself?'

'Yes.'

The blond slunk back onto the pillows behind him, swinging an arm over his head. 'How did it become invisible in the first place? I didn't command it to do anything.'

'Or did you?' Vincent asked. 'Do you remember what your last thought was before you blacked out?'

Cloud thought about it. 'I saw Leviathan fading away... and I was thinking... hoping, actually, that wherever Leviathan was now, it would stay out of trouble and... maybe out of sight...' His train of thought stopped here. He jerked upright, causing the old springs of the infirmary bed to creak loudly in complaint. '...no way...'

'Apparently, Cloud, Leviathan is able to read your will and act accordingly without you having to voice it out loud.'

This time, Cloud buried his head in the palms of his two hands. 'The whole world can see what I'm thinking.'

'Just Leviathan and me, Cloud, don't worry,' Vincent said soothingly. Cloud lifted his head from his hands and glared at the sheets in front of him, hoping that Vincent could sense his displeasure. Vincent laughed. 'At least we've learnt something new about Leviathan and how you are bonded. Although, it really shouldn't have been a surprise. MP measures the mental strength of the caster, and since Leviathan is feeding on your MP, it only makes sense that it can read the stream of thoughts that you convey along with it.'

Cloud sighed. 'Speaking of MP,' he then gulped. '...how am I going to explain how I blew that machine up?'

'Play dumb, Cloud. Leviathan stirred up enough chaos for you to easily talk your way out of this one. More importantly...' The older man's tone turned pensive. '...I suppose now that we know you can give Leviathan silent commands, it would make things much easier. Can you ask Leviathan to stay out of sight from now on? It won't do for you to be attracting more attention than you already have.'

"Stay out of sight, Leviathan," Cloud monotonously repeated Vincent's request out loud. He could sense an inquiring silence on Vincent's part, and he pouted. 'Look, let's leave this mind-commanding thing to cases of emergency. It's already freaky enough spacing out all the time to talk to you. If I have to add Leviathan to the list, I'd be kicked out of the army before the week!'

'That is sadly true,' Vincent found himself agreeing. He went silent for a while more. 'Wait, Cloud. You have to tell Leviathan to be visible to the materia pendant. Otherwise, we won't be able to observe it enough to devise a solution to send it back.'

Cloud furrowed his brow, wondering how he should give that command. "Let Vincent and only Vincent see you," he pointed at the waiting snake. Leviathan tilted its serpentine head to a side, flicking its tongue out.

'I still can't see it.'

'It doesn't seem to understand me.'

'I think not even Leviathan is powerful enough to choose to appear to someone who is watching via a materia from another time and dimension.'

'What should I command it to do then?'

There was a long silence, in which both Cloud and Vincent tried to think of a good, foolproof solution. Then Vincent spoke up, saying, 'Maybe you can ask it to appear to be visible to people who possess a certain level of MP. Set it so that both you and I will be able to see it, but nobody else.'

Cloud perked up at this suggestion. Nobody in the past world could possibly have enough MP to rival either him or Vincent. "Did you hear what Vincent said, Leviathan?" He addressed the snake, who hissed. "Can you do it?"

Leviathan hissed again.

'I can see it now, Cloud,' Vincent sounded impressed. 'It looks like a summon creature who is pulled from its dimension without materia is able to understand complicated commands.' There were sounds of paper rustling over the mind-link, which was probably Vincent taking down notes. 'Strange that it doesn't understand the command for it to go back home, though.'

There was nothing Cloud could do but sigh in response to that. It was not a moment too soon that they had managed to figure a way to get Leviathan concealed properly, for the next moment, a nurse walked into the room Cloud was in.

"Ah. I thought I heard noises from this room," the strict-looking lady adjusted her glasses and glanced through the observation chart that was hanging in front of Cloud's bed. She wrote something on it and looked up at Cloud from beneath her lashes. "Mr. Strife, it appears there is nothing actually wrong with you, except for maybe a bit of a nervous breakdown. You may sign out of the infirmary anytime in the next hour. I will inform the SOLDIER who brought you in about your current status. Have a good day," she finished politely, taking the clipboard with her as she hurried out of the room.

Cloud watched her until she was no longer in sight. 'She didn't see Leviathan,' he let out the breath he had not know he was holding. 'So it's really working, then.'

'Hmm, hmm,' was Vincent's reply. He sounded distracted.

'Vincent, I'm going to cut the mind-link,' Cloud said, his voice tired even in his thoughts. 'You can still see and hear what's going on here without the mind-link, right?'

'Absolutely, Cloud. You need some peace and quiet, I'm sure. I will speak with you soon, then.'

The blond nodded, not sure if Vincent could actually see it, but too weary to speak whether out loud or in his thoughts. He terminated the spell, then flung himself back on the creaky old bed, sighing heavily.

A while later, he sat back up, hopping off the bed and planting his feet on the ground. His jumbled mind slowly cleared and he started to recall what the nurse had been saying just now. As he walked towards the reception to sign himself out, his mind was on one thought alone.

"I wonder who was the SOLDIER who brought me in...?"****

x--x--x--x--x--x--x--x--x--x--x  
9 dec 2007  
tougenkyou . net / xd


	4. Chapter Four

**Standard disclaimers apply.**

x--x--x--x--x--x--x--x--x--x--x  
WHEN YOU WISH UPON A MATERIA  
x--x--x--x--x--x--x--x--x--x--x  
CHAPTER FOUR

The infirmary of the military was located somewhere in the massive Shinra Building, Cloud noted to himself, as he stood in the elevator, waiting for it to bring him down. Why had he not known this fact? He was quite sure he had been in the infirmary at one point or another during his teenaged years, but the memories of that time period was so far out of reach that most of it was like a surreal dream now.

Leviathan had returned to dangling around his shoulders, and although he disapproved of it, at least with the snake close to him he could make sure that it did not go around stirring up more chaos than it already had.

The soft 'chink' of the elevator indicated to him that he had arrived at his desired floor.

He stretched as he stepped out of the glass box and into the exhibition room on the first storey. The room was adjoined to the Entrance of the building, which was his current destination. The receptionist there should be able to help him out with a few things. In his rush when he exited his bunk room, he had forgotten to take note of which storey exactly it was situated in. That and he was unsure what he was supposed to be doing or where he should be going now. He had not even been dressed in the proper cadet uniform when he left the room with his bunkmates, but he was pretty sure the Confu spell was taking care of that.

When he passed by a familiar looking exhibit, he stopped and turned around to stare at it fully.

It was the motorcycle he used to escape Midgar with the rest of AVALANCHE, a long, long time ago.

He kept staring at it, feelings of nostalgia welling up from within. He still missed his friends, but the painful feelings of loss were no longer present. If anything, his long life had taught him that memories were meant to be cherished, not regretted. He let out a sigh without really knowing why he was sighing. Perhaps this whole time travelling thing was finally getting to him. Glancing up at the clock that decorated a distant wall at the back of the exhibition room, he noted that it was only late afternoon. Had it really only been less than one day since he came back? It felt like an eternity.

"You, there," he was jolted out of his thoughts by a commanding voice and the sound of heavy boots stalking across the room over to where he was. Quickly, he turned around and saluted, figuring that someone who had the nerve to call out to him like that had to be in some superior position.

What he had not expected, however, was to come face to face with the expressionless visage of General Sephiroth.

Cloud's mind stopped working there and then.

"At ease," Sephiroth said, oblivious to Cloud's internal terror. He narrowed his eyes as he scrutinised the still saluting Cloud's face. "You'll do," he eventually said, and started walking towards the door which led out to the Entrance of the Shinra Building. "Come," he said simply, not turning around in his purposeful stride. At least, not until he reached the door and realised that Cloud still had not followed him. He turned slightly then, glancing at Cloud from the corner of his eyes with a questioning frown.

It was as if all the blood in Cloud's body suddenly rushed to his head, alerting him at long last that he was supposed to respond somewhat to Sephiroth's command to follow. He stopped saluting and instinctively scrambled to where Sephiroth was waiting for him. Seeing Cloud coming, Sephiroth wordlessly turned and continued on his trek towards the Entrance proper.

Cloud desperately wanted to activate the mind-link he had with Vincent now, but he knew it would be suspicious. Not only would the materia glow, Sephiroth would also sense spell activity, and if that did not blow his cover, he did not know what would. After all, why would a supposed normal, run-of-the-mill cadet be able to cast something so complex? Still, what he would give for the opportunity to mind-scream at Vincent for this unbelievably dire change of events.

Exiting the exhibition room, Cloud saw that Sephiroth was standing in the middle of the Entrance of the building, talking on his PHS. He tottered uncertainly towards the General, trying to keep his nerves intact. This was terrible. Okay, this was catastrophic, actually, but there had to be a way out of wherever it was Sephiroth was trying to drag him to. He looked all around the Entrance, trying to find something that would give him an idea. The map of the building, the directory, the clock, the carpet, the exit, the stairs, the staff, the receptionist, the plants, the...

'The receptionist!' Cloud wanted to holler in joy. That was what he had been wanting to do in the first place - check on his day's schedule! If there was something lined up for him, then he could politely excuse himself from Sephiroth's presence, and hopefully he would not remember Cloud by the end of the day. Just as he hit upon that line of thought, Sephiroth slammed his PHS shut and whirled around to probably check if Cloud had indeed followed him.

Cloud quickly snapped to attention when he met Sephiroth's eyes. Insane Sephiroth aside, General Sephiroth was another character altogether - one he did not remember having much dealings with. And this man had the aura of a /warlord/. Before he could make his excuse to leave, however, Sephiroth asked first, "Why aren't you in uniform?"

Thrown completely off course, Cloud paused for a long while to consider what he was hearing. "Oh... uh... I... was just discharged from the... infirmary...?" He finished lamely. Wait. Did he forget to tell his Confu spell to dress him in cadet uniform?

"The infirmary," Sephiroth actually smiled... smirked, at that. "What happened?" He asked, sounding genuinely interested.

"I..." Cloud had no idea how to explain himself. "...fainted at the canteen...?"

"You did," Sephiroth chuckled shortly. He turned around and started walking towards the exit of the building. "A new SOLDIER then? That won't be the last time you'll be doing the fainting business, so get used to it."

Cloud quickly ran after Sephiroth, his mind in more confusion now than ever. Did Sephiroth just call him a new SOLDIER? "Err.. sir!" He said, once he caught up with the fast-moving Sephiroth. The General turned his head slightly to regard the blond, but did not stop walking. "I... I'm quite sure I have other... err... stuff to do today... I was just about to check with the receptionist, actually, so..."

Sephiroth waved him into silence. "This mission will take priority over any other mission you have on hand at the moment. If Lazard asks, just tell him I kidnapped you or something."

Cloud was really starting to panic now. Lazard was the Director of SOLDIER. Sephiroth would not have thought that a mere cadet had to report to the Director of SOLDIER unless he really believed Cloud was a SOLDIER. Did the Confu spell wear off without him noticing? While he was busy being confused, he realised that Sephiroth was now out of the building, and he had lost the timing to question Sephiroth about what he had meant. Tactfully, of course. Cursing under his breath, he ran towards the exit as well, his mind in pieces.

Before he went out of the building proper, however, he caught hold of a staff who was lingering around the exit. "Excuse me," he asked, in a very serious voice, "...are my eyes... I mean... well... are my eyes... glowing?"

The staff, who was surprised at first, now narrowed his eyes in suspicion. "Another SOLDIER wannabe, I assume? No, cadet, your eyes are not glowing, and with an attitude like that, I suppose they never will," the man sneered and stepped back, flicking at the sleeve where Cloud had grabbed him, as if Cloud was too contemptible to even be allowed to touch him. He then walked away with his nose high up in the air.

Cloud watched the man walk away for a while. "...I guess that answers the question about whether my Confu is still working...?"

He had to stop talking to himself, for he was bapped over the head by something metallic. He turned around with an offended look on his face, which quickly dissolved when he saw that it was just Sephiroth, holding the hilt of the Masamune over him. Seeing that he had Cloud's full attention again, Sephiroth tilted his head in the direction of the exit of the building, perhaps indicating that they should be getting out there in the open, carrying out that mysterious mission.

Cloud decided that, as weird as this entire thing was, it would probably be in his and his younger self's best interest to do as he was told for now. He was sure Vincent was watching, so he would discuss the matter with him later. "Err, sir..." he was, however, still unsure about one thing. "Like I mentioned, I just came out from the infirmary, so I don't have any of my equipment on me..."

Sephiroth actually stopped and frowned at that, as if it had suddenly just occurred to him that a man who had just been discharged from the infirmary would indeed not be exactly properly outfitted for battle. "No matter," he said at length, restarting his walk towards the mysterious destination where the mission was to take place. This time, Cloud followed along obediently. "You will stay in the back row and assist me with spells, then." As he said this, he removed a few materia from his sword and armour, dropping them into Cloud's hands.

Cloud's heart sank. As the staff had confirmed, his Confu was still working. If it was working, though, why would the General ask a grunt to assist him with spells with such confidence? Sephiroth really did think Cloud was a SOLDIER. Why was it his Confu spell did not seem to work on Sephiroth, then? Leviathan seemed to sense his unease, for it stirred and lifted its head up. It hissed once at the panicking Cloud, then went back to sleep.

Speaking of Leviathan, Cloud was thinking morosely to himself, why had that thing not hissed menacingly at Sephiroth yet? His face twisted in bewilderment. Leviathan was usually so protective that anybody who came within five metres of him was hissed at with great disapproval. So many things were not behaving the way they were supposed to after his rather regrettable chance meeting with Sephiroth. Cloud was not entirely sure what was going on anymore.

"Your face resembles a kaleidoscope," Sephiroth amused voice cut into his thoughts, and he turned to look at the taller man. "Green, red, purple, white..." Sephiroth shook his head, unable to continue because he was too busy trying to suppress his laughter.

"...sorry..." Cloud was unsure of what else he could say.

Sephiroth waved the apology aside. He continued, in an official, businesslike voice, "We are going to Mako Reactor 1. The Turks have reported detecting suspicious activity there, and it has been concluded that Wutai rebels may have infiltrated the reactor and set up base there. If we find any rebels, we are to exterminate them all without question. Lazard does not want any prisoners."

Cloud frowned. "That's not all there is to the mission, is there?"

The General tilted his head to a side and glanced at him with a mischievous smirk. "What makes you think so?"

"You mentioned the Turks," the blond pointed out. "The Turks are not usually involved unless there is a considerable degree of danger to the Company or the President in the situation. As far as I know, that is," he tried to shrug when he realised that all this knowledge was not really his. It was Zax's. Zax's memories that he had pilfered and continued to pilfer. He shook his head, trying to get those thoughts out of his mind. He had decided a long time ago to no longer allow the past to shackle him.

Sephiroth, if he noticed anything wrong with Cloud, was not doing anything to show it. In fact, he was looking quite pleased with Cloud's perceptiveness. "You are quite right in that there is actually more to the mission than a mere find-and-destroy outing." His face darkened. "The spies we have are reporting back that the Wutai rebels have been working on a top-secret anti-SOLDIER tool. That was all the information they could get their hands on, in addition to the location. The Directors have decided that it is serious enough to warrant sending SOLDIERs to take care of things before it gets out of hand."

"If they've set up base in a Mako Reactor," Cloud perked up, as a hunch overtook him, "could it be that they are building this weapon with the help of Mako?"

A laugh from Sephiroth made him regret that he had spoken that out loud. Why had he done that? Sephiroth was no Vincent, despite the similarities in their speech patterns, and he was really in no position to discuss strategy with his superior officer like they were equals. He kicked himself mentally for not realising that. Again, Sephiroth paid him no heed, only saying, "A Mako weapon against the enemy whose livelihood depends on Mako?" His shoulders went up and down in a short chuckle. "I might be inclined to say that it is a perfect picture of poetic vengeance, if I weren't on the wrong side of this pointless tussle," he shook his head. "The train will be leaving in a few minutes. We had better hurry," was his final instructions.

For the rest of the journey to the reactor, Sephiroth did not offer anymore information. Cloud was similarly withdrawn, although for reasons that differed from Sephiroth's silence. For all the nonsense his mind had had to process since his travelling back in time, it was now surprisingly clear on one thing.

It looks like General Sephiroth was not quite the perfect little obedient SOLDIER Shinra wanted the world to believe.****

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10 dec 2007  
tougenkyou . net / xd


	5. Chapter Five

**Standard disclaimers apply.**

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WHEN YOU WISH UPON A MATERIA  
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CHAPTER FIVE

When they arrived at the entrance platform of Mako Reactor 1, which looked exactly the grimy same as Cloud had remembered it, Sephiroth stopped in his step and turned around to face Cloud fully. There was a semi-suspicious, semi-curious glint in his eyes that blond could not read.

Cloud stiffened for the umpteenth time. "Yes, sir?" He asked, slightly hesitant.

"I've been meaning to ask," Sephiroth was saying, "do you know what my name is?"

Cloud reeled in confusion for a split second. "Isn't it 'Sephiroth'?"

The General relaxed his posture with a satisfied smile on his face. "Good," he said, "I was wondering if you missed the memo."

"...sir?" Cloud was still not quite sure what was happening here. Sephiroth frowned.

"That's not my name, SOLDIER."

"Oh," Cloud replied, dumbly, realisation slowly dawning on him. Did the mighty Sephiroth actually disliked being called by titles? "Does it matter, really? You /are/ my superior officer."

Sephiroth tilted his head to a side, keeping silent for a time. "If you say so... SOLDIER."

At that, Cloud froze, then started to pout royally. Yes, titles did have a distinctly impersonal feel to it, but there was no need to rub it in his face like that. Who in the right frame of mind would have been presumptuous enough to call Sephiroth by /name/ on their first meeting, anyway?! Wait, Zax not only did that, he also shouted at Sephiroth for something when they first met. But nevermind Zax, he was a special case. A special kind of basket case, to be sure. "Well," Cloud was not going down without a fight, "I have a name too. If you can call me by my name by the end of this mission, I would gladly return the favour... sir."

If Cloud could hear Vincent through the mind-link, he was sure the older man would be rolling on the floor with laughter by now. Yes, he knew he had a stubborn streak the size of the Northern Crater. But Sephiroth was just asking for it, really.

In fact, Sephiroth himself looked like he was about to burst out laughing there and then. He kept the twitch of his lips under control after a few dangerous moments, then turned around dramatically to face the insides of the reactor. "There are minor monsters lurking around the deeper parts of the reactor. I will lead, and you will assist me with restorative and protective spells. Only cast offensive spells in cases of emergency, because the Science Department will be having Behemoths if they found out we've upset the delicate equilibrium of the painstakedly crafted eco-system of the reactors with our... unmethodical casting."

Cloud wondered if Sephiroth was always so delightfully disgruntled or if he just hated the Science Department with an unrivalled passion. Probably the latter. He followed as Sephiroth started walking... stalking into the deeper recesses of the reactor, swatting half-heartedly at any monster that dared to come near.

It seemed even monsters had a natural fear of Sephiroth, for they instinctively avoided him as he led the way into the reactor. Cloud, on the other hand, was not enjoying such special treatment. While most of the monsters swerved away from the General, they gravitated towards Cloud like he was fresh meat. Without a sword to drive the mobs away, Cloud felt naked and unprotected. Fortunately for him, Leviathan was doing a great job of systematically decimating anything that dared even come near a ten metres radius. He had not even needed to activate any spell throughout the whole reactor trek thus far yet.

It was a good thing, Cloud sighed with relief, that Sephiroth was walking ahead. Since Leviathan was invisible to others, the monsters probably looked like they were being rebounded away by an anti-gravitational forcefield. What would Sephiroth say if he could see monsters spontaneously dropping like flies around Cloud with no provocation whatsoever? Probably flay him with the Masamune for being such an aberration. And that would make the which-th time he had an up-close-and-personal with the Masamune again? Sighing once more, he noticed that Sephiroth had stopped walking.

The General stood above a large metal platform that was directly above the major valve of the reactor at the bottommost level. The major valve was visible because the platform was made of interlinked metal fibres. Being able to see the ghoulish green of the Mako from beneath his feet made a shiver run up Cloud's spine. He walked until he reached the platform, and glanced at Sephiroth for instructions.

"So," Sephiroth said, while turning around slowly, a suspiciously happy smile on his facade, "Rumplestiltskin..." Cloud bristled as he became immediately aware that Sephiroth was trying to guess his name - starting with the most impossible one, apparently. "What is that dragon floating around you, actually? It's quite a bodyguard. I should suggest that President Shinra get one for himself."

The bristling transformed into wide-eyed shock, as Cloud stared at Sephiroth like he had grown a wing. This being shocked speechless thing was getting to be quite a common occurence, Cloud noted numbly to himself. Leviathan was still poised in the mid-air area somewhere above Cloud's head, having curled its body into a protective circle around its summoner. The snake hissed softly when Sephiroth mentioned it, as if sensing it was being mentioned.

"You..." Cloud eventually found his voice. "...you can see it?" He pointed at Leviathan.

The General raised an eyebrow. "Am I not supposed to?"

"Well," Cloud was unsure how he could put it across, "I told it to stay invisible to normal people... I mean..." Realising how rude that must have sounded, Cloud stopped and attempted to correct himself.

Sephiroth, however, simply laughed. "Maybe I'm not normal, then," he said in jest. It was hard to tell if he truly meant what he was saying. He walked closer, until he was one arm's length away from Cloud and Leviathan. The traitorous creature, Cloud fumed internally, remained placid and unagitated. "What is its name?" The taller man was asking, his attention fully on the floating snake.

"Leviathan," Cloud answered honestly. There was really nothing else he could say.

"Leviathan?" Sephiroth repeated, a nostalgic smile gracing his lips. "Like the Wutai serpent-god of water? How charming," he continued to look at the snake, who looked back stonily at him. "What do you usually feed it? Leftover rations?"

Cloud shook his head, growing slightly uneasy with Sephiroth's unconcealed interest in the summon creature. So far the SOLDIER had the impression that it was Cloud's pet of sorts... which was true, in a sense. What he could not know was that Leviathan was more than just a pet - it was a summon creature. As much as Sephiroth appeared to detest the Science Department, Cloud was not so sure if he would not at least notify a scientist or two of this phenomenon to see what good might come out of it. "It feeds on MP," Cloud said, without thinking. He regretted it immediately, giving himself a mental slap on the forehead.

"That's an interesting diet," Sephiroth, however, did not doubt or find Cloud's words strange in the least. He held a hand out at the floating Leviathan, who retreated slightly at the sudden action. "By MP," the SOLDIER said, "I assume you meant this?"

A burst of energy suddenly appeared above Sephiroth's outstretched palm. Raw energy exuding from body parts was usually what happened when a caster tried to cast a spell with a dead or cracked materia. Cloud had never seen anybody able to unleash raw magic by just willing it to appear. He stepped back in awe, watching as sparks of energy drifted up from Sephiroth's palm. The sparks twisted themselves into tendrils, much like how the Lifestream was when it sometimes burst out onto the earth's surface. The glow they emitted was soft and endearing.

So endearing, in fact, that Leviathan was slowly, very slowly, gliding forward towards Sephiroth's hand. Like a cautious cat sniffing at a stranger's proffered treat, the creature carefully went closer to the energy Sephiroth had evoked, nuzzling the sparks when it got close enough. A hint of amusement flashed by Sephiroth's face. He slowly went back a few steps, still holding his hand out. Leviathan followed, gliding easily through the air without haste.

As for Cloud, he just kept staring.

Leviathan had left Cloud's personal area completely by now, twirling itself around the space above Sephiroth instead, its head still latched onto the energy in Sephiroth's palm. Cloud watched, fascinated at how things were turning out. Could it be that the summon creature was able to feed on anybody's MP, not just its summoner? But that would make no sense whatsoever, since summons were supposed to be loyal to the summoner, based on his experience with them in his life, that is. There had to be something more about this than a mere fickle change of loyalty. He watched on, this time with a more calculating view.

Sephiroth had retracted his hand so that it was closer to his shoulder instead. Leviathan was still attracted to the energy, and it glided close enough so that its head was level with the General's. With its body elegantly poised in the air around Sephiroth, the duo was nothing short of majestic. Leviathan was brimming with a silent, electrifying kind of power that threatened to spill out of its every last scale. Cloud had never seen it glow so brightly before.

"Your pet is quite tame," Sephiroth was saying in a mild tone. It was obvious he was quite entertained by this entire spectacle.

"It's not usually so tame," Cloud said unhappily.

Sephiroth gave the flying snake one final, affectionate look, before retracting all the raw energy he had been exuding. Leviathan jolted slightly, wondering where all the tasty food had gone to. For a while it hovered around Sephiroth, giving him a curious look. Then it glided swiftly back to Cloud, curling itself around the blond's neck, where it usually rested.

"As much as I would love to examine that interesting creature more, I'm afraid our mission awaits," Sephiroth announced, sounding sincerely sorry. He waved at the wall behind the platform they were on. "This wall is actually an entrance to one of Shinra's secret laboratories, which the Wutai rebels have apparently found and taken over. We will be breaking the wall down and taking them all by surprise. As I have mentioned, we are to take no prisoners. Once we retrieve the anti-SOLDIER tool they are building and hand it over to the Science Department, our mission will be complete. Now, Rapunzel," he drew the Masamune from its sheath and pointed the long sword at the wall. "Are you ready?"

Cloud had been tensing up at Sephiroth's explanation, right up to the part where he called him by the wrong name. "At least try a name that sounds male!" He bellowed angrily. His protest fell on deaf ears as Sephiroth gave a hearty laugh.

"On the count of three," Sephiroth said, his countenance suddenly serious. Although still unhappy, Cloud quickly readjusted his mindset to concentrate on the more important thing at hand. He readied a few of the materia he had been issued and looked intently at the wall that Sephiroth was going to break down. "One," the General started the count, "two," he raised his sword, "three!"

Two slashes of the Masamune was all it was needed to bring the two metre thick wall down in the most quiet fashion possible. Immediately, both Cloud and Sephiroth dashed into the crevice opening, ready to remove any Wutai rebel that stood in their way.

When the smoke cleared, however, what greeted them was no rebel of the Wutai variety.

A large creature in the shape of a golden dragon roared at them, its voice so terrifyingly loud, plaster from the ceiling broke off and crumbled onto the floor.

Cloud noted for an appalling second that the floor was covered with broken furniture and stacks of dead, bleeding bodies. A second roar alerted him to the fact that it was still too early to count the dead yet, and he quickly looked up at the looming creature. Leviathan had uncurled itself from around Cloud's neck and was hissing angrily. Cloud gasped in shock when recognition finally took over. "It's a Shinryuu!!" He cried out.

Beside him, Sephiroth merely gave Cloud a curt glance. Shinryuu was what the Wutai people called the dragon-alphas, the strongest dragon in the hierarchy that only lived on the mountains of Wutai. The man then leapt upwards and slashed once at the massive beast. Although weak, the Shinryuu easily deflected the attack with a sweep of its sharp talon. It howled again, stomping on the spot and bringing more of the ceiling down with its actions.

"Don't!!" Cloud shouted at Sephiroth, just as he landed from his jump. Sephiroth frowned at Cloud, questioning his request wordlessly. "It's not..." Cloud squeezed his eyes shut, trying to concentrate. Leviathan could read the dragon's emotions, and it was trying to transmit them to Cloud. "...It won't hurt us! It's not... trying to harm us... it's just... in pain!" He opened his eyes and looked up at the still howling creature, taking two steps forward. "Leviathan!" He called out, trying to make himself heard above the roaring. The snake immediately glided forward, looking at Cloud expectantly. "Talk to it! Calm it down! Find out what's wrong! Use all the MP you need!"

Leviathan hissed once. It then twirled around Cloud in quick circles, absorbing more and more of Cloud's MP as it did. Finally, it stopped circling Cloud and flew upwards, to where the head of the stampeding dragon was. Sephiroth beheld this whole scene with morbid fascination. He noted that Leviathan was now at least ten times bigger than its original size. It was so big that it now rivalled the Shinryuu in size. The snake hissed at the dragon, who immediately calmed down. A moment of understanding seemed to pass between the two creatures. In time, the dragon stopped thrashing. It gave one final heart-rending moan, before collapsing onto the ground, limp.

Its mission complete, Leviathan now returned to Cloud, gradually losing most of its size as it descended, until it was small again. Cloud held both hands out in a welcoming position, knowing that he could receive Leviathan's memories if he let the snake touch his head. He did not do it often, not even in the future, because it left him disorientated for a long time afterwards. But he needed to know what was going on now, and Vincent was always around to catch him if he should fall. Oh, wait. Vincent was not around, Cloud groaned to himself. Only Sephiroth was. Nevertheless, it was too late to try to keep any secrets now. More concerned about the cause of the dragon's berserk rampage, Cloud closed his eyes as Leviathan drew closer.

The creature bent its neck and touched Cloud's forehead with its own forehead. If the situation had not been so utterly /bizarre, Sephiroth would have found the whole thing sweet. As it was, however, he had not a clue what Cloud was trying to do. Leaving that, he decided to do something he did know, and that was to examine the damage around the laboratory.

Most of the tubes and apparatus had been smashed to fragments, Sephiroth noted, as he walked around the wrecked room. The bodies that were littered across the floor were that of the Wutai rebels they had been sent to take out. Most of them looked like they had either been burned to death or squashed by something heavy. Concluding which, Sephiroth gave the collapsed dragon a glance from the corner of his eyes. He returned his attention to the room, sighing. That rat scientist had better hope there was nothing valuable here, for it would be impossible to retrieve anything pure from this room anymore. On second thoughts, he hoped that there was something /really/ important here, just so that he could see the scientist's face twist in rage and frustration.

As he turned around to examine another spot in the room, he saw Cloud fall to his knees. Sephiroth frowned, striding over quickly. He briefly checked if there were any enemies around Cloud. When he could not find any, he bent down on one knee and addressed the fallen blond, asking, "What happened?"

Cloud was panting. When he looked up, his eyes were glassy and unfocused. His speech, however, showed that he was still lucid. "The Wutai... rebels... they stole the Shinryuu's egg and lured it... out... and they captured it... then kept it imprisoned under a forcefield... that weakens it..." Cloud shuddered in cold sweat as he tried to deal with the onslaught of the dragon's memories and emotions Leviathan had transmitted. He felt so withdrawn from his own body.

That had not been the answer Sephiroth had been expecting to hear, but he improvised. "Where is the forcefield and the egg?" He asked, ever aware of the mission at hand.

Cloud's breathing was calmer now, although still erratic. He clambered onto his knees shakily, looking all around the room with his eyes still glazed over. There was a large hole in the opposite wall that looked like someone or something had sucker punched it from the other side. Searching through the Shinryuu's memories, Cloud started to walk towards that area. "It's... somewhere over there... the dragon somehow escaped from... the forcefield and... killed all its captives..."

Sephiroth nodded silently. He looked at the direction Cloud was heading towards, then at the fallen dragon. Furrowing his brows, he walked closer to the creature. "Hmm," Sephiroth's voice could be heard above the sizzling of damaged machinery. There was a pause. Cloud saw that Sephiroth was examining the dragon, but could not guess the reason for the pause. "I'm sorry," the General eventually said, in a most careful tone. "The dragon is dead."

Cloud stiffened at that. "Impossible..." He made his way slowly to where the dragon laid. When he was close enough, he put a hand on the scaley hide of the creature. As much as he tried, he could not sense any life in it. Sephiroth had spoken the truth. The dragon truly was dead.

"Looks like escaping from its bond and punishing its captives was the last thing it was able to do," Sephiroth had already turned and was walking towards the gaping hole in the wall the dragon had made during its escape.

Cloud sighed to himself. "Leviathan?" He called out, and the summon glided over. 'Is it really dead?' Cloud asked in his mind. Leviathan glanced at the limp body beside it, going closer to examine it. It circled the dragon for a few rounds, perhaps trying to talk to it. Finally, it returned to Cloud, and nuzzled the blond's forehead lightly. Cloud waited for the transmission of memories and images the snake would have gleaned from the dragon, if the dragon was alive. There was only silence and darkness.

Retreating a few steps, Cloud looked at the wretched figure of the dragon who had died for the most ridiculous reason. He was too numb to even question why this had happened.

"For ambition, some will stop at nothing," the voice of Sephiroth sounded out, as if in explanation. Turning around, Cloud saw that the man had halted at the hole in the wall, apparently waiting for him. "Well?" Sephiroth was asking. "If we cannot save the parent, the least we can do is try to save the child?"

Cloud's eyes widened at those words. He had completely forgotten that there was a baby dragon involved as well. Snapping out of his reverie, he sprinted over, as quickly as his blurred vision would allow him. "Leviathan," Cloud addressed the snake that was cruising along beside him, "find the egg," he instructed. The flying snake hissed once and glided quickly into the hole. It passed by Sephiroth, who watched it go with a pensive look in his eye.

Turning to Cloud, he asked, "Where are you from?"

Cloud finally arrived at where Sephiroth was standing. He put his hands on his bent knees and panted slightly, looking up when he heard Sephiroth's question. "...Nibelheim," he answered.

"Nibelheim..." Sephiroth frowned. He found the name vaguely familiar. "Does everybody from Nibelheim have such intelligent pets?"

Cloud gulped. "No, err... I err... found it at a... Mako pool, actually. Lots of those up in the Nibel mountains..." He ended his brief explanation with a nervous laugh. It was true. He had summoned Leviathan out while standing near a Mako fountain. "As far as I know, I'm the only person who--!!" Halfway through his sentence, Cloud found himself on all fours, feeling like someone had just reached for his mind and pulled it out of his nose.

From deep within the wall gap, a familiar-sounding howl alerted him to the fact that Leviathan was in trouble, and whatever was affecting the snake was affecting him as well, through their mental link. "Leviathan...!!" He managed to stand and wheeze, despite the sudden onset of a dizzy spell.

Sephiroth merely spared his companion a singular glance. Deciding that Cloud was strong enough to handle whatever he was dealing with at the moment, he turned and entered the wall gap as well, striding purposefully into the bowels of the mysterious room.

What greeted him was the sight of a large forcefield with seven rings. It encompassed over three quarters of the room within. The forcefield glowed a sharp, angry red, making loud noises as each of its rings flickered in and out of operation in sequence. The howl was indeed from Leviathan, who was lying in a boneless heap somewhere in the outer ring of the forcefield. The innermost ring of the forcefield was the area which glowed the brightest. Sephiroth could see the outline of a trapdoor on the floor, and he was certain that was where the dragon egg was being held captive.

He walked towards where Leviathan was, near the edge of the outermost, until he was at its threshold. He knelt and stretched a hand out, attempting to grab the flaccid tail of the creature to pull it out of the area that was rendering it immobile. The moment his fingers even grazed the demarcation line, however, sparks flew and his hand was rebounded back to him with great force. This was accompanied by a dull feeling of loss, as if someone had just cast a Drain spell on him. He stared at his hand, contemplative.

Right the next moment, however, a hand that was not his stretched out towards the same spot he had been trying to reach. Sparks flew, and there was so much static that Sephiroth thought the hand would melt or otherwise become charred. However, the sparks soon disappeared, and the hand found its way into the forcefield in one piece. It grabbed Leviathan's tail and yanked hard. The snake was flung backwards, landing in the arms of its saviour. Leviathan howled one last time, softly, and went completely limp.

It was, needless to say, Cloud who had rescued the creature. The blond sighed, rearranging the lengthy serpent into a slightly more convenient position for him to carry. Looking up, he saw that Sephiroth was glancing in his direction. He met the General's eyes squarely, and asked, "You know what this thing is?"

"No," Sephiroth replied truthfully, "but I'm quite sure I have a good idea." He gestured towards innermost ring of the forcefield. The glow there was intense, but not intense enough to blot out the few materia purposefully arranged on the ground. "This is a forcefield that drains power from anything that steps into it. The materia that holds it in position is deep in the centre of the field, making it impossible to deactivate without some form of long-range weaponry. And even then there is no guarantee that the forcefield will not hinder the projectiles from hitting the mark. Judging from the hole in the wall, the dragon must have escaped from this room. Apparently, however, it was too weak to sense that its baby was in the same room as well." He pointed with his chin towards the trapdoor in the middle of the forcefield. Cloud turned towards that direction as well.

"Leviathan was trying to get there," Cloud concluded. He glanced at the unconscious creature he was cradling in his arms. "But the forcefield took all its energy."

"In any case, we need to remove the materia from the pattern if we ever wish to retrieve the egg," Sephiroth continued, a thoughtful look on his features. "...and we should do it soon. The egg may be below the trapdoor, but the forcefield is quite powerful. I wouldn't be surprised if it's already feeling the negative effects of the power-draining."

"But how do we know which materia to remove?" Cloud questioned. "What if it's not the materia that's holding the forcefield in position at all?"

Sephiroth did not answer, but was busy fiddling with the materia on his sword. After he was apparently satisfied with the arrangement, he turned to face the forcefield. Without any fanfare, he lifted his sword and slashed it downwards, the force of his action so strong it sent an energy curve rippling through the air. The curve hit the forcefield and they battled for dominion for a few seconds. Eventually, the forcefield won out, and the energy curve fizzled into nothing.

"Hmm," Sephiroth remarked, looking down at the sword with a curious frown etched across his features, "this forcefield looks penetrable. Perhaps with a little additional push..." He straightened into his usual fighting stance, holding the Masamune with both hands, at level with his eye. A green materia embedded in the sword glowed, and Sephiroth slashed upwards. This time, a tornado the height of the room burst out from the tip of the blade, ramming into the forcefield and eating into the first ring before vanishing. Sephiroth smiled. "Good," said he. Lifting his sword, he crossed it over his right shoulder. All the green materia that were equipped on it lit up, and for what seemed like an eternity he held the spells until the blade glowed an eerie red. Finally, he slashed outwards.

A rip-roaring explosion forced Cloud to hold his hands over his ears. He watched as a mangled mass of intertwined elemental spells twisted themselves around a tornado that rivalled the previous one in height, but absolutely overpowered it in strength. The twister rampaged its way towards the hole in the forcefield that its predecessor had made, slicing through it like hot knife slicing through butter. It easily made its way through the entire diameter of the forcefield, cutting a clear path through the area, and was about to slam into the wall of the reactor behind when Sephiroth cancelled the spell by closing his upraised fist in the air. Immediately upon that command, the tornado - along with all its dependent spells - whisked away in a puff of smoke, like they had never been there before.

There was a long period of silence.

"How did you do that?" Cloud asked in an awed voice, unable to hold his curiosity in. He knew that in theory, it was possible to charge one's blade with a spell and then toss it out while engaging in melee, but he had personally never tried it before, and nobody he knew could do it with such ease.

Sephiroth looked at his blade with the same curious frown he had when he first tossed the energy curve out. "I honestly don't know," he admitted, sounding frustrated and amused all at once. "I've never casted like this before. There have been rumours for years from the Materia Department that a spellblade combination is possible, but nobody has ever figured out how to do it properly."

"Not even you?" Cloud asked incredulously, and Sephiroth nodded. "But... you just did!"

"I have no idea how it happened," Sephiroth shrugged, keeping his blade and turning towards the forcefield, which was now more like two halves of a forcefield with a clear path cut through its middle. He started walking, but slowed down to a halt after a few steps. "...the air," he said, "it feels different. More 'charged', if that is an appropriate description. It empowered me. Perhaps there's something in this reactor that SOLDIERs naturally reacts to," he paused, thinking about something. Eventually, he restarted his trek towards the forcefield. "Whatever it was, it got the job done." Arriving at the circumference of the forcefield, he turned around to glance at Cloud over his shoulder. "Coming, Cinderella?"

The light tone of voice snapped Cloud out of his awe. He resisted the urge to pout and quickly ran to join his current superior officer, Leviathan still soundly asleep in his arms. "You're never going to guess my name at this rate," he mumbled unhappily when he was close enough.

"Perhaps, but it certainly makes things more interesting, doesn't it?" The General grinned for a split second, which Cloud did not catch because at that precise moment, Leviathan began to stir. Sephiroth noticed this as well. "Your pet is awake," he observed.

Cloud looked at the summon creature, concerned. They had never tested out just how much damage the creature could take before either dying or returning to its own dimension. Then again, was it possible for summon creatures to die? In any case, that was the only method they refused to test to see if it could send the creature back, and for good reasons. Not only was it unnecessarily cruel, they also did not know how linked the creature was with the summoner's mind. It seemed like while Leviathan fed on Cloud's MP to manifest itself in the world, Cloud was not adversely affected when Leviathan was hurt to a considerable degree. The blond continued to watch the creature silently.

Leviathan, having just woke up from unconsciousness, was understandably slightly jerky in its movements. It hissed softly, nuzzling the hand that was holding it. Cloud could feel Leviathan sucking energy from his mind, and that was a good sign. It showed that the snake was healing, because dead snakes could not suck energy. After a short while, Leviathan launched itself into the air again, gliding in slow circles around its summoner.

"It looks all right now," Cloud could not help but sigh with relief.

"Tough thing, that one," Sephiroth agreed. Deciding that this case was closed, the General turned back towards the forcefield, making his way over to where the trapdoor was with large strides. Cloud followed at a distance, glancing warily at the forcefield that had not been knocked out by Sephiroth's attack. Leviathan glided along carefully behind Cloud.

When Sephiroth reached the trapdoor, he went down on one knee and grabbed the handle. He lifted the door up with little difficulty, and both he and Cloud peered over the opened hole in the floor to see what laid beneath.

Although it was mainly cloaked by dark shadows, there was indeed something shaped like the large egg of a dragon inside. Every few seconds, it pulsated with a faint, golden glow. If Cloud concentrated hard enough, he found that he could hear what sounded like the thudding of a heartbeat coming from within. He looked pointedly at Sephiroth, who in turn, looked back. "I guess this means we'll have to try to get that thing out?" The blond asked.

Sephiroth stood without replying. He drew the Masamune and lowered it slowly into the hole. A fierce sizzling sound was produced, and sparks flew wildly in all directions. Smoke began to block the view of the blade, until Sephiroth withdrew it from the hole. The top part of the Masamune, which he had inserted into the cavity, had been burned a bright red. Although the legendary blade itself was unscathed, still its tip had been temporarily scorched to a glowing red ember, and that was saying something.

Cloud found himself gulping involuntarily. If he had reached in to grab the dragon egg without consideration, his hand would have melted through to the bones. He was not sure if his enhanced healing covered things like that.

"They must have incubated the egg with a strong heat spell so as to simulate the warmth of the mother dragon sitting on it, in order for it to hatch," Sephiroth explained. "By the looks of things, this egg is most probably due to hatch within a day or two. Already the baby dragon's heartbeat is gaining strength." He looked downcast for a short moment. "The Science Department will doubtlessly be jumping for joy at this discovery..." He murmured under his breath. There was no mirth in his tone.

Cloud's heart clenched. He felt sorry for the baby dragon that would become the subject of a string of cruel experiments no creature should have to go through. Just like he had. Just like Sephiroth had. His mind ground to a halt at that. Where had that thought come from?

In the meantime, Leviathan had glided forward and was twirling small circles before the two men, as if trying to catch their attention. Sephiroth noticed, and he tilted his head in wonderment, whereas Cloud frowned and asked, "What is it, Leviathan?"

The snake paused when it was addressed. It hissed at Cloud. Cloud sighed. When would the creature get it that he did not understand snake-speak? Nevertheless, Leviathan continued hissing, until it had apparently finished explaining itself. It then retreated slightly from Cloud, positioning itself directly above the opened trapdoor and shaking itself into an upright position. As upright as a floating snake could get, anyway. Once ready, it wailed. It wailed with a most eerie howl, almost like it was calling out to something.

And the next thing the two humans knew, a torrent of water burst forth from the middle of nowhere and gushed into the cavity in the floor, guided there by Leviathan's howling commands. Slowly, the hole began to be flooded with water. The egg floated upwards, riding on the ripples of the steadily increasing water line. Once it was a safe distance away from the vicinity of the heat spell, Leviathan stopped howling. It glided downwards, curling its long tail around the large egg. After making sure the egg was secure in its curls, Leviathan then hoisted it into the air. The waters, having lost their commanding call, disappeared into whichever dimension the snake had summoned them out from.

All that was left were two very confused men and one hissing, beaming snake.

Cloud almost facepalmed himself. He had forgotten that this was the summon creature who controlled the water element as easily as it could fly. But how was he to know that the creature would act without him having given any instructions? He would definitely have to take this up with Vincent later, when he had a chance to talk to the older person. Right now, Cloud was thinking, as he stole a glance at the unusually quiet Sephiroth, he needed to give an excuse about the source of Leviathan's power. Fear of being found out had gripped his mind so tightly, however, that it was nothing more than a complete blank shade of white now.

The fear must have reflected on his features, for Sephiroth took one glance at him and smirked knowingly. "I won't tell anyone," the General was saying, "that you have a summon creature for a pet, if you'll just do me one favour."

Cloud was slightly annoyed that Sephiroth had stated with no explanation whatsoever that Leviathan was a summon creature. It was as if he had known about it all along, and was just waiting for the right moment to make use of that fact. But there was really no denying that that was what Leviathan really was - a summon creature. If that last move the snake had made did not seal the deal, then nothing else would have. "What favour?" The blond asked in wary resignation.

"Keep the egg safe and out of sight until it hatches," Sephiroth looked meaningfully at the egg that was safely nestled within the curls of Leviathan's tail. "When it hatches, I would like you to inform me, so that I can find a way to return it to the wild without anyone ever noticing."

The silence dragged for a bit after that. "That's all?" Cloud eventually said, skeptically.

"If you want toilet duty for the rest of the year, I'm sure something can be arranged," was Sephiroth's generous offer.

Cloud stepped back instinctively. "No please, sir." A pause. "...you won't report me to the Science Department or anything...?"

This caused Sephiroth to literally roll his eyes. "I'd like to think that the world views me as a better man than that, you know," he laughed derisively to himself. "Hojo can find his own toys. I refuse to aid him anymore than I have to."

Cloud knew he could accept that, but something just did not seem right. "Aren't you curious? About how I have a summon creature for a... pet?"

The General merely looked amused. "I've seen weirder," was his clipped reply. "If Leviathan likes hanging around you, why should anybody question that? We all have our secrets."

Leviathan hissed happily when it heard its name. It would have danced, if it did not have the burden of cradling a gigantic egg with its tail.

"Can you do me this favour?" Sephiroth asked again, when it did not seem like Cloud was going to be closing his slack jaw anytime soon. "Please?"

The last word Sephiroth spoke was so out of line with Cloud's firmly embedded image of the madman that he was forced to snap upright with shock and attention. He looked, really looked at the taller man in the eye. As unreadable as the General was, he still showed a bit of emotion through those windows to his soul. The man of his memories - the man who derived pleasure by taking everybody else's - slowly faded away into the background, until it was replaced by the man at present, standing right before him. The man whose eyes had no taint of insanity. Whose eyes reflected a deep shade of sincerity.

"You're the boss, sir," Cloud said, still staring at Sephiroth in the eye.

The General's lips curled up slightly, and a glint of weary satisfaction entered his eyes. "Thank you," he said simply, before turning away towards the hole in the wall. "We'll need to take count of the bodies of the Wutai rebels outside," his tone became cool and professional in the space of a heartbeat. "I'll be entering the dead dragon as the anti-SOLDIER 'weapon' they were trying to build, and I expect it to be corroborated in your report. As for the events of the mission, they are to remain the same as we have experienced, without any mention of the dragon egg. And your pet, of course."

Leviathan hissed in approval.

"But sir," Cloud protested mildly, "when the cleanup crew arrives, they'll see the forcefield. And... the trapdoor. They will be suspicious."

Sephiroth stopped walking and turned around. He nodded to indicate that he understood Cloud's concern, and after that he turned his attention to the forcefield. He tilted his head to a side, flexing the hand that was not holding the Masamune. Raw magic burst out from his palm again, like when he was trying to bait Leviathan. He stretched his hand out, and the energy shot forward, towards the materia that had been powering the forcefield. It swept them all up and dumped them unceremoniously into the trapdoor area. A flick of his wrist, and the energy curled around to the back of the lifted trapdoor, slamming it firmly shut against the floor.

Sephiroth then raised his hand slightly upwards. From the side openings of the trapdoor, Cloud could see the glow of magic. He could not believe it, but apparently Sephiroth was activating the materia from where he stood, nearly a whole room away. The forcefield shuddered, and then suddenly, it closed in on the path that Sephiroth had earlier gouged out. One full second was all it took for the forcefield to be whole and menacing again.

Cloud turned to stare at Sephiroth, who was staring at the forcefield. Soon, he transferred his stare to his hand. Unable to bear the silence, Cloud asked, incredulously, "You can activate materia from long distances?"

Sephiroth slowly lifted his glance up to look at Cloud, before answering, "No. Not usually." He narrowed his eyes. "There is truly something different about the atmosphere here. I'll have to get it checked up when I return to Shinra Building..." his voice trailed off as his thoughts caught up with him for a brief moment. At length, he shook his head and laughed softly under his breath. "All right, enough dallying. We just need to take stock of the damage and the mission is complete. Follow me, Sleeping Beauty."

Once again, Cloud was with Sephiroth all the way up to the point he started the name guessing again. "That wasn't even a name!" He shrieked indignantly, but followed the walking man out of the room all the same.

At least this mission would be over soon, and he would never have to confuse himself by conversing with a sane Sephiroth any longer than he had to.

A flood of relief washed over him at that thought.

But he was unable to understand why his heart hurt so much.****

x--x--x--x--x--x--x--x--x--x--x  
24 dec 2007  
tougenkyou . net / xd

okay. no more distracting myself. i shall now work on sojourners...!! XD (yes, yes, keep telling yourself that...)  



	6. Chapter Six

**Standard disclaimers apply.**

x--x--x--x--x--x--x--x--x--x--x  
WHEN YOU WISH UPON A MATERIA  
x--x--x--x--x--x--x--x--x--x--x  
CHAPTER SIX

Before stepping out back into the open, Cloud made Leviathan swallow the dragon egg.

In theory, which he explained to Sephiroth, he was banking on the fact that Leviathan could keep itself - and anything within it, hidden from sight from specific groups of people, and thus prevent pandemonium from ensuing when they eventually got back to HQ.

In reality, however, he was kind of hoping that the intimacy would cause the two powerful creatures to end up cancelling each others' existences out.

Cloud realised sardonically that he had been hoping for a lot of things ever since he wound up back in time.

Unfortunately, neither Leviathan nor the egg vanished. Cloud now had to deal with a flying snake with a bulging belly trying to drape itself around his neck at every given moment.

All he could do was sigh in resignation.

The train trip back to HQ was spent in mutual silence. Cloud studiously ignored all the intense stares the commuters in the train were shooting in their direction. It was not every day one got to see the hero Sephiroth taking the train, after all. Cloud wondered not for the first time why Shinra did not just arrange for the SOLDIER to have personal transportation.

Although Sephiroth leaned as inconspicuously as he could against the wall of the last cubicle of the train, he still stood out in that mysterious, otherworldly way of his. Cloud was hovering nearby, trying to keep his senses about him. He could not help but feel like Sephiroth was going to run him through with the Masamune at any moment. Old habits die hard. If Sephiroth noticed his jumpiness, he was discreet enough to keep his comments to himself. And for that, Cloud was grateful.

After a while of travelling, Leviathan floated out of Cloud's territory and was sniffing at the air around Sephiroth. The General glanced at the pregnant-looking snake with amusement, but took care not to speak to it. He remembered Cloud had mentioned that the snake was supposedly invisible to normal people, and judging from the way the other passengers were acting, it seemed to be true. Eventually, Leviathan grew tired of poking at the curious entity who was apparently not susceptible to its magic, and retired back to its owner, doleful for some reason.

At that very moment, the train announced its arrival at Sector 8.

Sephiroth unfolded his arms and pushed himself away from the train wall. His movement caused a few people who had been staring to quickly look away. Cloud glanced at those people and sighed inwardly, remembering the time when he used to be like that before the great General Sephiroth as well. The fact that he was now in that time period certainly made things much more complicated. And while he was yet thinking, Sephiroth had already exited the train carriage. Once he realised that, Cloud hurriedly followed, trying not to seem like a clueless schoolboy.

"When we get back," Sephiroth said in a quiet voice, as soon as they were out of the confines of the stuffy, Shinra-controlled train station, "do not visit the SOLDIER Floor or report to the mission panel immediately. Let me settle things with Lazard first. You may submit your report at around 2000 hours tonight, when all the SOLDIERs are at the party. Once the egg hatches I would like you to inform me. The phones will most likely be bugged, so look for me in person. I should have formulated a method to send the dragon away safely by then."

The fact that he was not required to follow Sephiroth to the SOLDIER Floor or be present when he made his report to Director Lazard made Cloud dizzy with relief, and he was hardly paying attention after that. "Yes, sir!" He said when Sephiroth was done, and saluted on reflex. This caused the General to stare at him with something akin to mild annoyance on his face. He looked like he was about to say something in response, but was interrupted by the sound of his PHS ringing.

"Yes," Sephiroth stopped and answered it right away. After a few seconds of listening to the other person, he turned away with a frown between his eyes. "No, I have not been informed of that," he was saying, somewhat tersely. "Bring the file to SOLDIER Floor, I will meet you there in a few minutes," he started to walk again. They were already at the entrance of the Building - the large glass doors sliding open in greeting, when Sephiroth moved towards it.

Stepping in, Sephiroth's attention was apparently still on the other person on the line. He glanced at the clueless looking Cloud and waved a series of signals that Cloud recognised as SOLDIER hand signs. 'Mission accomplished, dismissed, standby, meet later,' Cloud managed to decipher. He did not know why and how he came to remember these hand signs, but since it most probably had to do with his five years tenure as Hojo's guinea pig, he figured he was better off not knowing.

Without thinking, Cloud signed back. 'Understood.' Sephiroth nodded curtly in acknowledgement. He turned and strode purposefully towards the exhibition room, where the elevator was.

Cloud watched Sephiroth vanish behind the sliding doors of the exhibition room while rooted to the spot. And he kept staring, even after Sephiroth had gone for a long time.

Throughout his long life, he often found himself thinking back about this crucial period of time. Of the 'if-only's and 'what-could-have-been's. He knew ruminating on the past was pointless, but sometimes it was just like a reflex action to something he came across. The feeling of intense hate, the strong sense of self-loathing, and the inability to simply let it all go had all faded out in the course of several centuries. And with those feelings out of the picture, it was much easier to see things in perspective.

Cloud was no hopeless romantic, but if there was one thing he had learnt after living so long, it was that everyone deserved to be at peace with the planet and themselves.

'Some more than others,' he thought to himself, eyes still looking in the direction Sephiroth had last disappeared to. And he was surprised to realise that he really meant it. If Vincent was still in his head, Cloud was sure that the older man would either be laughing or composing incomprehensible poetry by now. Both possibilities made his hair stand on ends, so he was secretly glad that the Vincent Voice was out of the house at the moment. Speaking of the Vincent Voice, Cloud grabbed the materia pendant. Now was the best chance to activate it.

The busy day was not over yet, however, for before Cloud could even so much as flex a finger for the spell, a cheerful and familiar sounding voice called out his name.

"Cloud!" It said. "Yo, Cloud, over here!" The voice got progressively louder, accompanied by the heavy thumping of standard issue boots. A hand slapped Cloud on his shoulder before he could turn around, reining him in for a noogie. Leviathan was floating around somewhere nearby, and it growled softly, before becoming silent for some reason. "Gee, would've been nice if you'd at least called me to let me know they let you out of the infirmary! I thought the nurses ate you or something!"

Memories immediately flooded Cloud's mind. He knew this man very well, and his voice, thought Cloud wryly to himself, had not changed at all. He was exactly the way Cloud had remembered him. Still as bright and cheery as the day they first spoke on that cold and isolated mountain track. Still as warm and reliable as the day they broke out of the laboratory deep in the bowels of the Shinra mansion.

Recognition struck suddenly. Cloud found that he could put a name and face to the voice, and he froze half in terror and half in excitement.

"Zax?" He whispered fearfully.

"Hmm?" Zax, despite always giving the impression that he had nothing much going on in his head except his dream to become a hero, was actually quite perceptive. "Something wrong?" He released Cloud from the noogie and asked.

"I don't know if I'm ready for this yet," Cloud was saying, his back still turned. He squeezed his eyes tightly shut.

"Ugh, what?" Zax blinked.

"This is just too sudden," Cloud continued, not caring if he was confusing Zax.

"What is?" Zax asked, stepping back slightly.

"Dead enemies, dead friends, I don't know, coming back to the past?" Cloud knew he was shooting his mouth off, but he was hardly caring at the moment. His composure had been thrown out of the proverbial window when Zax called for him the first time.

"Dude, Cloud, what's wrong with you?" Zax's smile was getting strained. "Do you need to go back to the infirmary?" He enquired, genuinely concerned.

Cloud spun around all of a sudden so that he was now facing the SOLDIER, although he firmly refused to open his eyes. He leaned forward and impulsively laid his forehead on the warmth that was Zax's left shoulder, reassuring himself that this was real. He was real.

Zax was real.

The befuddled SOLDIER stiffened at the uncharacteristic display of affection from his usually shy friend. He knew that Cloud had a lot going on in his life for a fifteen year old kid, but he never probed more than Cloud was willing to divulge. He did what he thought an understanding older brother would do in the circumstance, lifting a hand to pat the back of Cloud's lowered head gently.

"Is it really you, Zax?" Cloud said again, his voice broken and wavering ever so slightly.

"In the flesh!" Zax chirped.

"I missed you," Cloud whispered.

The SOLDIER used his other hand to scratch his head. "It's only been a few hours."

Cloud made a choking noise. "It's been forever."

Zax actually laughed out loud at that. "Have your bunkmates been stuffing you with their trashy poetry again? You gotta learn how to say no once in a while, Cloud..." he coughed to stop the amusement from showing on his face. "Then again, I suppose it's probably not a good idea to change something that's so intrinsically you..."

After a short, awkward silence, Cloud sighed. "You're right," he mumbled, head still lowered, "some things never change. /You/ haven't changed..."

"Quite hard to change within the span of a few hours, though I think you've got that part covered pretty well, if you ask me..."

"...and history," Cloud continued as if Zax had not spoken at all. "History doesn't change... no matter what we do and how much we struggle..."

"Okay, that's it, your bunkmates are going to die and they are going to die now..."

"Do you ever sometimes wished that things were different?"

Zax stopped his tirade and paid closer attention. He was still living the shadow of the Angeal fiasco, and he knew better than to deny it. There was something hounding Cloud, and he wished he could know what it was. But even if he did not, he knew he could still help by being truthful. "Everybody wants to be able to undo their past regrets," the SOLDIER admitted, tone calm and serious, "but that's just not possible!" The smile was back on his face, a little sadder this time. "That's why we call them wishes. Because wishful thinking is just that - a wish that only exists in our thinking!"

For a few seconds after Zax spoke, all Cloud did was sniff quietly. Then he gave the taller man a weak punch to the chest. "If there's anybody stuffing me with trashy poetry around here, it's /you/." But he chuckled a little when he said that. And he was finally able to push himself away from Zax's shoulder.

Relieved of the weight, Zax gave a hearty laugh - with raised shoulders and all. "What can I say? I'm a genius in everything I do?"

Cloud's head was still lowered, though he had long since opened his eyes. He clenched his fists in determination. Breathing in and out deeply, he slowly lifted his head so that he was able to look into the face of the man who had saved him more times than he cared to count. When he locked glances with the smiling and slightly confused Zax, it was as if something inside shattered into a thousand pieces. He fought desperately to keep his face from scrunching up with emotions. But he refused to compromise by glancing to a side. There were so many things left unsaid between him and his benefactor, whether in the past or now.

Relatively speaking, of course, since Cloud was trapped in this strange time paradox where dead people were alive and former enemies were actually kind of nice to hang out with.

Cloud lifted a hand to his face and rubbed roughly. He would like to think that he was rubbing dirt off his face, but his tear-stained sleeve would beg to differ. Nevertheless, he looked up and into the eyes of his erstwhile best friend again.

"I never got to say thank you."

He knew Zax would never comprehend the long, bitter years of sorrow and regret behind those simple words. But it was enough.

The man being spoken to grinned. "You're welcome? It's just a trip to the infirmary, though. You know I'll do anything for a pal!"

Cloud's vision blurred momentarily again, but he gave his face another rough rub. "Yes," he agreed wholeheartedly, "yes, I know that better than anybody else..."

Zax tilted his head to a side and nodded slowly. "And now that all that is out of the way..." he waved dramatically, "I can finally ask you what I was trying to find you for! You don't have any missions tonight, do you? Wanna go try that new restaurant in Sector 7 I was telling you about?"

The sudden change in topic caught Cloud completely off guard. "Umm..." he blinked. "...actually, I'm not sure," his head was still swimming, after all. "I just got back from a mission. I still need to check with the receptionist what my schedule for the night is."

"Yeah, I know how the Company works, 'stretching all available human resources' and everything..." the SOLDIER sighed. "But just check with the receptionist to see if it's something skippable, all right? Pretty please?" He put his hands together and pleaded.

"Sure..." Cloud frowned. "Don't /you/ have any missions, Zax?"

Zax's head snapped up and he gave Cloud an incredulous look. "Oh, Cloud, I can't believe you've forgotten again. This must be at least the 100th time I'm telling you, but the Company has put me on standby ever since Modeoheim, remember??" He stepped forward and clapped a huge hand over Cloud's head, grabbing hold and shaking it in slow circles. "I. Am. So. BORED!" He sounded like he was whining, but Cloud could not be sure, since his head was being rocked in all directions. "But everybody's so busy and don't have time to do anything with me! Humour me, Cloud, and just go ask, all right?"

"All right, I'll go!" Cloud grabbed Zax's wrist and removed the latter's hand from his head without thinking. He sighed, and failed to notice Zax gaping openly at him, a cross of shock and amazement written all over his face. "And don't follow me there, you're embarrassing!" Cloud huffed, and then was on his way.

Zax stared at Cloud's retreating back, then at the hand that Cloud had forcibly removed just now. Although he had not been using his whole strength, the SOLDIER was well aware that he had exerted a fair amount of power. Enough that he knew Cloud would have great difficulty making his hand budge even if he wanted to. He did it purposely in order to see Cloud pout and complain, because the boy just needed to lighten up a little sometimes. How could Cloud have gotten strong enough to remove his grip with apparently no difficulty at all in such a short time?

Gripping his hand and flexing his arm, he let it drop back to his side. There would be time for answers at another time. Right now he was going to concentrate on getting out of the Building with his close friend and then having the wildest time of their life.

Cloud was already walking back by the time Zax had finished thinking. He had an apologetic look on his face. "The good news is," Cloud started, and Zax perked up, "my night patrol has been cancelled. The bad news is," he held a hand up to stop Zax from doing a victory dance just yet, "that it has been replaced with guard duty for the anniversary dinner that's being held at one of the ballrooms here tonight."

The SOLDIER took a moment to fully digest the information. Then he deflated. "Oh man... Why doesn't /anybody/ have time anymore..."

"I'm sorry Zax," Cloud sounded sympathetic. "But don't you need to be at the dinner tonight anyway?"

"Yes," Zax said, head still hung in disappointment. "But I was planning on skipping because you know how boring things like that can get." He looked up and leant slightly in, whispering secretly, "President Shinra's just going to give Yet Another Grandiose Speech about the Company and its interests. Same thing we hear every year, really. I don't know about you, but I can already almost memorise the thing..." He peeked up purposefully. "...do you wanna skip?"

"No!" Cloud cried out immediately. He simply could not afford to draw anymore unwanted attention to himself. But of course, he was not about to give that as an excuse to Zax. Where was Vincent when you needed him. "Err... I mean, it's an important function, and... I might get into... trouble...?"

"Yeah, yeah, I know you're a serious kid," Zax said, while ruffling Cloud's hair fondly. He then turned a circle around himself and sighed to the high heavens. "I guess I'll go for that anniversary dinner after all..."

Cloud sighed as well, but in relief. Glancing at the clock on the wall, he was aghast to note that it was nearly 1900 hours. He had be at some briefing at 1930 hours, so that gave him very little time for anything else. "Zax, I'll see you there all right?" He was already retreating towards the exhibition room. "I gotta go, or I'll be late, and my bunkmates will have my hide for that." He waved at Zax, who waved back. Turning around, he broke into a full sprint and only slowed down when he got to the lift landing.

When the elevator doors slid open, Cloud stepped in quickly. He pressed the floor for his bunk and slumped back against the translucent glass wall. He noticed that he was the only soul in the elevator, excluding the unusually silent Leviathan. His hand went up to the materia pendant around his neck, and the materia glowed for a split second.

'Am I dreaming, Vincent?' Cloud asked, as the elevator slowly made its way up.

There was silence in his head for a while. Then, 'You wish, Cloud.' More silence. 'And I wish you were, too.'****

x--x--x--x--x--x--x--x--x--x--x  
20 jun 2008  
tougenkyou . net / xd

sorry for the heavy stuff. D: i think these guys may actually be trying to drag a plot into this crackpot story. well anyway, back to crack soon, i think. i hope. XD

after all these years i am still unable to spell zax's name properly, because i just don't see how zakkusu transliterates to zack!! XD perhaps one day i will change, but until then please do excuse my vanity. XD


	7. Chapter Seven

**Standard disclaimers apply.**

x--x--x--x--x--x--x--x--x--x--x  
WHEN YOU WISH UPON A MATERIA  
x--x--x--x--x--x--x--x--x--x--x  
CHAPTER SEVEN

The first thing Cloud did when he found his way back to his bunk bed was to scream.

"Oh, my goodness!" His loud shriek caught the attention of all his other bunkmates. "I have a poster of Sephiroth above my bed!"

A pause.

"Big deal," Bunkmate1 snorted. "We all do!"

As if on cue, all the boys in the bunk pointed to their posters.

Cloud stared at them, then returned to his internal panic. 'Should I tear it down? CAN I tear it down?? What will young me think when he comes back to find his poster gone? How did I ever forget that I had such a thing during my time in Shinra...?!' His mind was racing at top speed.

The Vincent Voice laughed softly. Whether he was laughing at Cloud's dilemma or the fact that Cloud once had a poster of Sephiroth hanging on his wall, nobody would ever find out. 'Leave the piece of paper alone, Cloud,' the older man said. 'I do believe you have more important things to worry about at the moment.'

'But the poster!' Cloud protested. 'I have a poster of Sephiroth! On my wall!'

"Stop staring at Sephiroth and go change into your uniform!" Bunkmate2 said while tossing a pile of folded clothes and a helmet at the bewildered Cloud. The clothes hit Cloud squarely on the back of his head. "The briefing for the dinner is in 15 minutes!" When all Cloud did was stare dumbly at him, Bunkmate2 sighed and grabbed his arm. "Really, Cloud, I know you're the biggest Sephiroth fanboy in the military, but we have a mission to go to." He dragged Cloud all the way to the room's communal toilet and all but flung him inside along with his uniform. "Get changed!" Were his last words before he slammed the toilet door shut.

'I think your friends are taking this collective responsibility thing a bit too seriously,' Vincent commented.

'You're only saying that because you've never met our instructor before,' Cloud scoffed.

'And you have?'

'Of course I have,' Cloud mumbled, then blinked. '...I have? I mean, I should have... not now, but in the past... err... that means now... well actually... I don't remember...' He frowned and put a hand on his forehead.

Vincent allowed a short while to pass by before speaking up again. 'In any case, since the Confu spell seems to be misbehaving, you had better change into the uniform, just to be safe,' was his suggestion.

Cloud was already in the process of changing. 'Yes, I know. Speaking of which,' he paused. 'Why /didn't/ the spell work on Sephiroth? It worked on everyone else... even Zax.'

'That is a very good question, Cloud, which we will discuss once you are able to keep your temper in check whenever the word Sephiroth is mentioned.'

'What! I /can/ keep my temper in check when he's mentioned!!' The younger man mind-roared. He then noticed what he had just done, and stiffened unhappily.

'Exactly,' there was a smirk in Vincent's tone. 'But you were rather well-behaved in front of him just now, though. I was almost afraid you were going to ask Leviathan to eat him up.'

Leviathan, who was coiled up comfortably inside the toilet sink, glanced up when it sensed its name being said through its mind-link with Cloud. It hissed softly.

'I don't think so, Vincent,' Cloud fastened his belt - the final piece of accessory on his uniform, and straightened himself. 'Did you see the way Leviathan behaved around him? I don't think the fellow would have attacked him even if I asked it to.' He pulled his helmet over his head and opened the toilet door. "Okay guys, I'm done!" He announced to the room, and received several murmured agreements in response. Slowly, the people in the room began to file out. Internally, Cloud continued, saying, 'Things are just a little crazy at the moment. I'll be fine. We'll talk about Sephiroth after this dinner thing.'

'I do not doubt that you will be fine, Cloud. However...' Vincent's voice trailed off, and there was the sound of someone scribbling on a piece of paper. The scribbling stopped, and Vincent continued, '...nevermind. Further observation is necessary before any conclusions can be reached.'

"That MP test today was really a blast, wasn't it?" Bunkmate3 interrupted Cloud's thoughts as the four of them walked down the corridor towards the briefing room. Cloud tried not to wince at the mention of that disaster. "The machine blew up just like that! And then that flying snake! I heard it was chasing cadets all across the canteen after it destroyed the machine!"

Cloud blinked. "They think Leviathan blew up the machine?" Currently gliding through the air beside its master, Leviathan hissed in approval.

"Sure they do," Bunkmate3 continued. He then eyed Cloud dubiously. "How did you know they're calling the snake Leviathan though? I thought you were passed out in the infirmary after being knocked cold in the canteen?"

"Err," Cloud tried to find an excuse. Difficult when you had a Vincent Voice chuckling away in a dark corner of your mind. "News travels fast?"

There were nods all around to that sentiment. Cloud put a hand on his chest in relief.

"Did you know that Leviathan is actually a serpent-god said to live deep in the Wutai mountains?" Bunkmate2 said in a low, harsh whisper. "There's this rumour going around that it was actually Wutai rebels who summoned the snake, which is why Shinra has codenamed it Leviathan. In fact, some people even saw General Sephiroth on a train going towards Sector 1... apparently, there were rebels there making some kind of weapon with magic, but he quashed them all before they even had the chance to fight back!" He made a dramatic fist-clenching movement. "General Sephiroth's just too awesome for words!"

The rest of Cloud's bunkmates began to discuss the rumour with great gusto. Dumbfounded, Cloud merely paid them half a heed. 'News really does travel fast in Shinra,' he commented in his mind. 'Even if it's /distorted/ news...'

'I assure you, Shinra is doing so well despite their evil conglomerate ways precisely because they know how to control the grapevine,' Vincent added his own observation to the throng of opinions being thrown around in the open.

"What happened to Leviathan, then?" Cloud asked out loud, when he found a pause in the conversation. His bunkmates turned to look at him strangely.

"General Sephiroth was present at the canteen when the snake was rampaging," Bunkmate1 eventually offered. "He did some sonic-attack thing with that long sword of his, and the snake vanished into thin air after that."

"Oh," Cloud mumbled. He closed his eyes and rubbed his temples, trying to rearrange the new information into something he could understand. His bunkmates stared at him for a while more, before returning to their fervent discussion about the awe-inspiring strength of their General.

'I don't get it. Sephiroth was the one who vanquished Leviathan at the canteen? Why didn't he say anything when he saw me with it, then?' Cloud was carrying out a discussion with Vincent in his own mind.

'When he struck Leviathan,' Vincent was saying, 'he was standing at quite a distance apart. I don't think he had a clear idea of what he was striking at, just that he was striking at /something/ that was disturbing the people in the canteen.'

'Oh, I see,' Cloud mind-said. Then, 'Wait, what, you KNEW Sephiroth was the one who struck Leviathan and you didn't think to tell me?!' He put so much energy into shouting at Vincent in his head that he stopped walking altogether.

'No,' Vincent corrected him calmly, 'I did not know it was Sephiroth either, until just now when your friends mentioned it. It wasn't hard to just put two to two together.' Silence. 'Cloud... so should I stop mentioning Sephiroth altogether whenever I'm speaking with you now?'

Cloud knew Vincent was asking out of true concern, but he could not help but feel patronised. 'No, no, don't do that,' he said in his head, in the coolest manner he could. 'You're right. I'm overreacting. I'm sorry.'

"Anyway, the MP test has been postponed to next week, since the machine was destroyed. Everybody has to retake," Bunkmate3 was saying. "More time for us to train our MP, I suppose!"

"Next week," Cloud repeated mindlessly. "Next week?" He brightened up all of a sudden. "Really? Next week? As in, /next week/??"

'Yes, he said next week,' Vincent reassured him in his mind, even as Bunkmate3 nodded and said, "Yes, next week. I think they're going to ship a new machine from Junon, or something, so it'll take a while."

Cloud pulled a fist inwards in triumph. "Yes!" He hissed, much to the amusement of his bunkmates.

"It's almost like someone else has taken over Cloud's body," Bunkmate1 commented in jest. The other two bunkmates chuckled at the joke. Cloud stiffened, but his bunkmates were already moving on towards the door at the end of the corridor. To his relief, they did not appear to think too much about Cloud's out-of-character behaviour.

Their words, however, made Cloud much more painfully aware of how he ought to be keeping watch on his mannerisms. Thankfully, Vincent was polite enough to refrain from making a crack on his slip up.

The doors to the briefing room slid open when the four of them stood before it, and they entered the room. The briefing room was relatively large, with a long table in the middle and a huge display screen on the back of the wall. Cloud and his bunkmates filed in where the other troopers were lining up. It looked like they were the final group to arrive, for after they fell in line, the formation of cadets appeared to be complete.

At the far end of the room, standing below the screen, was Heidegger, the director of the Shinra army, and Sephiroth. While Heidegger examined the room with a pompous sneer on his face, Sephiroth was leaning against the wall with a blank look on his face, his arms folded over his chest. Two groups of SOLDIERs were standing at attention at both sides of the room.

When Cloud was done examining the scene, his eyes fell on Sephiroth, and for a moment he thought he saw the SOLDIER looking back. The moment passed, however, and Sephiroth was back to staring blankly at nothing in particular. Cloud frowned, and Leviathan began twirling in circles above his head in reflection of his mood. At that precise moment, Heidegger stepped forward and spoke up.

"As you all know," the plump man was saying, and the room fell into complete silence, "tonight at 2000 hours, there will be an anniversary dinner held at the grand ballroom. Ever since the conclusion of the Wutai War, the world has been having much peace, and all credit is to be given to President Shinra, the man who made it possible! Gwahahaha!!" He gesticulated wildly as he wheezed. "However, we have heard rumours that enemies will be trying to wreck this happy occasion, and that is where we, as protectors of peace, come in! This is a great chance for you to shine! For you to prove your mettle! All the training that you have been going through..."

At that point of time, Cloud's mind started to drift. 'Why can't he just tell us what we're supposed to do?' He mind-sighed.

'He wasn't the Director when I was in Shinra,' Vincent commented. After a pause, he continued, 'I suppose that's something I should be grateful about.'

Cloud thought he saw Sephiroth looking at him again. 'Why does Sephiroth keep looking over here?'

'Cloud. There is a flying snake dancing above your head.'

'Oh yeah. I forgot.'

Leviathan gave a long, sad howl, and Sephiroth glanced over again.

'Oh snap! He must know it's me!'

'Yes, he probably already did, the moment you stepped into the room.'

Cloud wanted to dig a hole in the ground and bury himself. 'He thinks I'm a SOLDIER. How am I going to explain to him what a SOLDIER is doing in cadet uniform?'

'Well, at least he's not saying anything about it,' Vincent stated, '...yet.'

'...thanks a lot, Vincent,' Cloud mind-mumbled. Heidegger was still going on and on about the virtues of working for Shinra and how the President was the best thing since lard tea. Cloud did not know how long had passed since he opened his mouth, but he could see that he was not the only one getting restless. Some of the cadets were obviously not paying attention anymore, and even a couple of SOLDIERs were fidgeting in their positions. Cloud wondered what time it was. It would be really funny if they were all late to the party and President Shinra got kidnapped, or something. He would love to read the headlines of the next day's news.

"Director Heidegger," and apparently, the cadets and lower-ranked SOLDIERs were not the only ones getting tired of Heidegger's diatribe. Sephiroth had pushed himself away from the wall and turned to face the plump man. "I believe we have less than ten minutes left before the anniversary dinner is held in earnest. Instead of giving us a preview of President Shinra's speech, I would appreciate it if you could give us a succint, summarised version of our instructions for tonight in three minutes, as it will take seven minutes for this whole group to arrive at the ballroom from here." His icy tone of voice left no room for argument.

Heidegger was visibly cowed, but he regained his composure quickly. "V-Very well... if you insist. Let us look at the layout of the ballroom..." The screen flashed and a cross section of the location appeared.

Much to everybody's relief, Heidegger gave out all the proper instructions within three minutes, under the watchful eyes of Sephiroth. He quickly dismissed the entire group, and by 2000 hours, they were all at the ballroom, waiting for things to happen.

The huge event hall was abuzz with calm activity. There was a stage at the far end of the room with a pulpit - presumably for giving speeches. Littered sparsely across the ballroom were tables with fancy decorations. Cadets lined up against the walls at fixed intervals, whereas the SOLDIERs patrolled the room freely. Cloud was supposed to be guarding the entrance, so he hovered near the grand looking doors with a standard-issue rifle. He sighed.

"Aww, cheer up, bud!" said Bunkmate3, who was his partner for the assignment. "We could ask one of the guys to sneak us a couple of drinks when nobody's watching, if you want!"

Cloud shook his head. "No, no, that's not it. I was just... tired." And he truthfully was. It had been a long, long day.

"Yeah I know what you mean," Bunkmate3 gave his own long-suffering sigh. "I almost thought Director Heidegger was going to talk till tomorrow morning! Thank goodness Sephiroth stopped him, or we might still be in that room now!" He chuckled.

Although they were talking about two different things, Cloud still chuckled along. At least once this mission was over, he would be able to go back to his bunk, crawl into bed, and forget about everything for a good few hours in his sleep.

"What's the joke? What'd I miss?" A new voice interrupted the duo, and they turned to look in the direction of the voice.

"SOLDIER Zax!" Bunkmate3 saluted immediately.

"Yo!" Zax raised a hand in greeting, his usual wide grin on his face. "Door duty, huh?" He glanced at the duo and laughed. Then in a softer voice, he whispered, "At least you guys don't have to bear the full brunt of the Pres' droning later! I, on the other hand..." He sighed dramatically.

"Zax, you're not disturbing the cadets in their duties, are you?" Another voice said, while stepping out from the shadows of the corridor. Cloud's senses heightened when he saw the uniform the man donned. A Turk. And not just any Turk.

"Hi Tseng!" Zax waved, and Tseng crossed his arms while giving the SOLDIER an expectant look. "Ah... I'm off duty today, yeah? So that gives me the right to be social, right?"

Tseng's face was poker, but Cloud was sure he was rolling his eyes internally. "Do that with people whose futures will not be affected if they make any mistakes in tonight's mission, if you please," said the Turk, while shoving the SOLDIER into the room. "For example, Sephiroth is looking really bored at that corner over there. Why don't you go bother him instead?"

"Eh..." Zax gulped, while being pushed by Tseng further and further into the ballroom. His voice was starting to become softer as well. "I think I'll pass, thanks..."

Soon, Cloud could hear Zax's voice no more, even with his enhancements. He blinked in confusion. 'He didn't recognise me.'

'You have a helmet on and you did not say anything,' Vincent pointed out.

'Oh, right. I knew that.'

'Do be careful Cloud,' Vincent was saying with slight concern in his voice. 'You are on a mission here. Pay more attention.'

'I know, I know,' Cloud shook his head vigorously, imagining that by so doing he could clear it. Straightening himself, he began to do situation reports in his mind, in order to stay focused. 'Coast is mostly clear from what I can see. No sign of malevolent aura from attacking distance.' Random executives and employers were filing into the ballroom even as he thought to himself. 'Two suspicious people arriving from the left corridor...' he glanced towards that direction. A short while later, Reno and Rude sauntered into view, giving him the shock of his life. He quickly pushed his emotions to a side and continued, '...subjects verified to be benign.'

The Turks reached the door and walked past the two guards. Reno spared the both of them a lopsided grin. "Thanks for the hard work!" He said lazily, and Rude nodded in agreement. Then they vanished into the brightly lit ballroom, which was starting to get noisier and noisier.

'First day in the past and I've already practically seen all my Shinra ghosts,' Cloud commented wryly in his head.

'Don't jinx yourself, Cloud,' Vincent was saying. 'You wouldn't want Hojo to show up now, would you?'

'...you're the last person on the Planet I would expect to be making a joke like that.'

'Being out of the situation does wonders for perspective.'

'But seriously, if he shows up now, I think I'll ask Leviathan to try to eat him up. Consequences be damned.'

Leviathan hissed happily.

By now, lesser people were hanging out at the entrance, and no new guests were arriving at all. Cloud heaved a sigh of relief. They were supposed to close the doors at 2030 hours, and the time for that was getting near. He turned towards at his bunkmate, who looked back and flashed a thumbs-up to indicate that they could close the door now if they wanted.

Cloud nodded, and he turned back to the door on his side. He was about to tug the handle so that he could close the door, when he felt a weight on his helmet. He thought he heard Bunkmate3 gasp sharply, but could not be sure, for the next thing he knew, he was being dragged down the corridor by the weight on his helmet. They went up a flight of stairs, and down another corridor, until they were at a veranda of sorts. Once they were in the open, the person who had been dragging Cloud along stopped and pushed Cloud forward, removing his helmet at the same time.

"Wha..." Cloud came to a stop. He spun around, slightly cross. "Zax, if this is your idea of a... joke..." He was unable to continue. He had been so sure that Zax was playing a trick on him, but apparently, it was not.

"What are you doing in cadet uniform?" Sephiroth asked smoothly, completely ignoring the fact that he had just forcibly hauled Cloud away from his post. He was holding on to Cloud's helmet.

"Umm... I..." Cloud gaped. 'I... I can't take this anymore!!' He cried in his mind, and thought he could feel the Vincent Voice giving him a pat on his mind-shoulder. Noticing that Sephiroth was still staring, he mumbled, "...ugh... it's my mission. Right. Mission. Blending in and everything, yeah?"

Sephiroth continued to stare at him, his expressions completely blank. Cloud could not tell if he was suspicious or not. Eventually, the SOLDIER simply asked, "Have you reported in for the last mission yet?"

Cloud was confused for a second. Then he remembered the Reactor mission, and shook his head. "No."

The SOLDIER's face relaxed slightly. "Good," he said. "There are some internal problems with the SOLDIER division at the moment. Director Lazard is currently unavailable, so you are all to report to me instead." He gave Cloud a sidelong glance. "You don't have to bother anymore, though. It's not like I'll be reading it for anything you have to add."

"Oh," was all Cloud had to say.

"I don't recall there being a SOLDIER mission that involves dressing up as a cadet, though..." Sephiroth frowned in contemplation. "But since the system is a little messed up at the moment..." he trailed off, coming to a conclusion about something but not sharing what it was. Walking forward, he returned Cloud's helmet to him by shoving it into his chest. "Come with me," he said. Turning around, he began to walk out of the veranda.

Cloud stared, then sighed. Pulling his helmet back over his head, he followed the SOLDIER to wherever he was taking them to. Leviathan was following along as well, except the snake was more interested in trying to sniff out Sephiroth again. Vincent was also quiet, but that was for the best. Cloud was already barely able to hold his mind together, as it was.

They walked in silence for a rather lengthy period of time. Eventually, Cloud realised that they had exited the Shinra Building altogether. "Are you sure you should be skipping the dinner?" Cloud was nonplussed. "What if, you know... enemies attack, and stuff?"

Sephiroth did not even bother to look back. "I have two units of SOLDIERs from the Wutai War there," was his answer "Anything more would just be a waste of time and resources."

They arrived at a secluded dead-end after a complicated series of turns and about turns. There was a hole in the metal floor that was masked from view by the dark shadows of the walls that surrounded it, and Sephiroth hopped in wordlessly. After a few seconds, Cloud simply had to wonder. 'So I'm supposed to follow, then?'

'It would probably be in your best interest to,' Vincent replied.

'What if he's luring me to a dark, secluded spot to murder me in cold blood?'

A short pause. Then, 'Do you seriously think that? At this point of time in the past, that is,' there was a slight chiding tone in Vincent's voice. 'From the flow of events so far, I'd say that he's probably just trying to show you a place where you can safely leave the dragon egg, or something like that. Don't quote me on that, though.'

Cloud thought about it for a while. 'How on earth do you come up with such rational ideas with so little facts?'

'I was a Turk; this is a crackfic; we need to advance the plot somehow - take your pick.' And that was the end of that discussion.

'Well... let's mosey, I suppose,' Cloud clenched his fists and jumped into the hole after Sephiroth.

He landed on soft ground, much to his surprise. He had assumed that the structure within the Midgar plates was nothing more than a complex pattern of sturdy metal. Walking forward to where he saw a light, he realised that he was walking on soil. Real soil, with grass, undergrowth and even a wild flower or two.

Sephiroth was standing beneath what appeared to be a hole in the plate above, like the hole they had jumped down from. There were rays of white light beaming down from the hole, almost making it seem like there was a spotlight being cast on the SOLDIER. He activated a materia and let it drop to the floor. An electrifying aura spread throughout the area, and Cloud recognised the spell as Barrier. The energy went all the way up to the walls and ceiling of this peculiar room, eventually solidifying into a working barrier but remaining transparent. The SOLDIER snapped his fingers, and four materia placed at strategic spots around the room lit up all of a sudden. It was fire materia, and together they cast a warm glow over the place.

There was a greenish pond in the middle of the room, where the light from the fire materia was being reflected. A large, crystal-like stalagmite jutted out from the middle of the pond, making it all the more ethereal. Cloud stared at the rippling waters, mesmerised by its glassy glitter. Leviathan was already hovering above the body of water, sniffing at it experimentally. Sephiroth rounded the pond and stalked towards where Cloud and Leviathan were.

"After all the years of reactor refining," Sephiroth started, while turning to face the pond, "some internal parts of the plates are starting to see the effects of accelerated artificial Mako crystallisation. This chamber is located directly above the steam room of one of the reactors, and thus the effect is extremely visible here."

Cloud was staring at the pond and the crystal in the middle. He took a deep breath, and thought he could smell the mountains of Nibel. "I don't sense Shinra here."

Sephiroth chuckled under his breath. "Shinra is hardly aware of these internal plate rooms that are being encrusted all over with Mako crystals. Director Reeve has mentioned the possibility several times, but the Company is more interested in channeling its available funds to the military. Unless something collapses, I doubt they will even care, so rest assured that this place is out of Shinra's active jurisdiction."

Cloud shook his head slightly. "No, no... I mean..." He closed his eyes and tilted his head upwards. His enhancements made his ears ring and skin tingle, but not in a bad way. "...there are no Shinra bugs here. No hidden cameras. Not even the smell of bad Mako."

"Something you should be glad for," Sephiroth agreed, "since you will be leaving the dragon here when it eventually hatches."

Cloud's eyes snapped open. He turned to look at the taller man with wide-eyed surprise.

The query in Cloud's demeanour was obvious enough, so Sephiroth explained, "I've done some reading up about dragons. Parents generally do not pay attention to their offspring beyond the incubation period. Once the egg hatches, the parents will leave the babies, leaving them to fend for themselves. To that end, they will build a nest in a high mountain cave and stock it with enough food to last the fledgling until it is able to take flight and hunt for itself. The Mako crystal here purifies the air, thereby emulating the atmosphere of a high mountain cave. The hole above the crystal leads outside Midgar. Should the dragon be able, it can fly out anytime it wants with no obstruction whatsoever. Should it need more time, the barrier will prevent anyone from discovering this place. Even if they do, they will not be able to enter unless they can break my barrier."

The information swam around in Cloud's head as he tried to process it. "Where did you find the time to read all that?" He gaped. "We reached the Building at the same time and I barely had enough time to get changed, as it was..."

Sephiroth gave a mysterious smile, but said nothing in reply. He gestured at Leviathan, who was hovering above the Mako pond, and the flying snake glided over. The dragon egg was snuggled comfortably within the long, watery, and translucent body of the summon creature, glowing and pulsating every so often. "Leviathan," the SOLDIER addressed the creature, who tilted its head slightly, "will you stay here until the egg is ready to be hatched?"

Leviathan tilted its head further to the side, the same time Cloud shouted, "What?!"

"You cannot be bringing the egg around with you all the time, since you don't know when it will hatch," Sephiroth pointed out. "If you leave it here, Leviathan can guard it and inform you of its progress while you putter around elsewhere." He narrowed his eyes slightly. "You share a mind-link with Leviathan, don't you?"

Absentmindedly, Cloud nodded in confirmation. Sephiroth's words were sound, and he knew it would be sensible to follow his instructions for the sake of dragon baby. The possibility of him hitting upon unforeseen problems if he went around Shinra with Leviathan and the egg was too high to simply dismiss. But there was just one problem.

"I'm not sure how far Leviathan can be away from me, or if it can even BE away from me," Cloud informed, glancing at Leviathan. "But... you're right. It's too dangerous for me to be going around with the egg always by my side." An image of Nanaki suddenly surfaced, and he resolved to keep the dragon as far away from the Science Department as he possibly could. 'With my amount of MP, it can't be that hard to expand the area of influence of my magic,' Cloud commented in his mind. 'Right, Vincent?'

'Yes, Cloud,' Vincent replied. 'In fact, I do not think you even need to expand it very much at all.'

'What do you mean?' Cloud frowned slightly.

'What I meant was...' Vincent calmly explained, '...your problem is not how far Leviathan can stay away from you, but whether you are able to successfully command it to stay away from you.' At this, Cloud blinked, and his confusion was felt by Vincent. 'Try it,' the older man suggested.

'Okay,' Cloud was thinking, before he realised that Sephiroth was staring at him with a small but visible frown between his brows. He slapped his forehead mentally and hoped grudgingly that Vincent could feel it. Now Sephiroth was going to think of him as a weirdo who stared into space at random moments. "Umm," he said out loud, trying to find a way to explain his sudden silence. "I'll try to get Leviathan to stay, but Vi...err, but it... may not work?" He tried to rephrase Vincent's warning.

Sephiroth stared at him for a while longer, then nodded. "Try it," he repeated what Vincent said, and for a moment Cloud felt strangely offended. He shook that feeling off quickly enough, and turned to look at the summon.

"I want you to stay here until I tell you to come back," he commanded the snake, who howled sadly and began to twirl around Cloud in rapid circles, as if in protest. Cloud was annoyed. "Go over that pond and stay there until the egg hatches." He repeated his instructions. Leviathan howled again, and this time, it tried to wrap itself around one of Cloud's arm. Cloud groaned and grabbed Leviathan by its neck. "Why aren't you listening to me?" He questioned the wriggling snake.

While Sephiroth looked rather amused by the exchange, he was also considering the possibilities. "How far can it go away from you?" He asked, as Cloud throttled the summon by shaking it left and right.

"I don't know," Cloud took a break from shaking Leviathan and answered. "It's always been with me."

'Yes, it even went as far as to create a portal to make sure of that,' Vincent chuckled.

'Shut it,' Cloud mind-retorted. 'Nobody asked you.'

Vincent said no more, but the chuckling continued.

The General was looking at the half-dead snake in Cloud's hand. "Let it go," he said, and Cloud obeyed on reflex. The summon dropped to the ground, where it began to coil up. Now it really looked like a snake. Albeit with a bizarre, otherworldly head. "Leviathan," Sephiroth addressed the summon, who glanced up at him. "Show us how far exactly you can leave your master."

Leviathan hissed once, then turned to look at Cloud, who was behind it.

"Yes, show us," Cloud folded his arms and said, almost challengingly. Leviathan hissed in reply and lifted itself into the air easily. It started to go around in circles in one spot, until a vortex slowly swirled into view. Cloud heard Vincent give a soft gasp in his head.

'That's how Leviathan disappeared from here,' Vincent informed. 'It made a portal like that and went through it.'

Before Cloud could reply Vincent, the flying snake had dived into the portal, which vanished immediately after its maker went completely through. Stunned, Cloud could only blink at the spot he last saw Leviathan in.

"Where did it go?" Sephiroth asked.

"I would like to know as well," Cloud replied numbly. 'Please don't tell me it went back to you, Vincent.'

'No, no sign of the flying snake anywhere.'

Cloud sighed in relief. And then jerked upright, for the pond in the middle of the room was starting to ripple. But nobody had thrown any object into it. Nor was there any wind in the area. Sephiroth had noticed as well, and he stepped forward to examine the phenomenal closer.

And then Leviathan suddenly emerged from the waters. It sat gracefully atop the surface of the water, touching but not touching. Suddenly, the pond flashed brightly. When the light receded, both Cloud and Sephiroth saw that there were moving images on the surface. It showed a few people walking around a street, putting up decorations of sorts. Cloud noticed by the backdrop that it was an image of Wutai. And he was not the only one who noticed that as well.

"Wutai, getting ready for the summer festival," Sephiroth remarked. "So you went all the way to Wutai?" He asked Leviathan, who was still projecting the image of its journey on the water surface. The snake hissed. Sephiroth turned to face Cloud. "That's almost half a world away."

"Well," Cloud was surprised at how calm he sounded, "at least we now know it /can/ leave me. It just doesn't want to." He threw his hands up in the air. "I have no idea why."

Sephiroth folded his arms over his chest and bowed his head in deep thought. A while later he looked up again and said, "It doesn't take long for Leviathan to travel long distances. I suppose there can be a compromise. When you sense danger of any sort, or if the egg is about to hatch, instruct Leviathan to warp here. Of course, you will make your way here as well, as soon as it is humanly possible," he was looking at Leviathan while saying all that. "...what do you think, Leviathan?"

The snake was silent for a few seconds, and images continued to move on the water surface. All of a sudden, the images vanished, and Leviathan hissed softly. It glided over to Cloud, hissing as if in question.

"I suppose that's the most we can do in the circumstance," Cloud said glumly, while looking at the snake with resignation. "Hiss once if you agree?"

Leviathan hissed once.

"Excellent," Sephiroth sounded cheered, but it was hard to catch his actual expression in the bedarkened room. "I'll leave you two to thrash out the details, then," he said, while turning away and walking back the way they came. "However, I expect to receive notification when the egg hatches. In person. I believe I will be stuck in Lazard's office for quite a while. You'll find me there."

'Yes, and you might as well ask for a chocolate sundae while you're at it, huh,' Cloud grumbled in his head. Vincent cleared his throat in an attempt to stifle the laugh that was threatening to escape.

Sephiroth turned around and gave Cloud a sidelong look, as he stood below the hole that led back to the plate. His lips quirked up slightly. "I prefer strawberry myself, actually, but one man's meat is another man's poison. Good night, Cloud. And Vincent." With those parting words, Sephiroth leapt out of the hole and vanished into the darkness outside.

After a few long seconds, Cloud made a strangled noise. "...what...?!," was the last word he would utter in that room that night.****

x--x--x--x--x--x--x--x--x--x--x  
9 jul 2008  
tougenkyou . net / xd

no i do not know if sephiroth likes chocolate or strawberry better. what other sundaes are there, anyway?


	8. Chapter Eight

**Standard disclaimers apply.**

Short explanatory chapter. Lots of talking. Very little action. Mind still on holiday. Hee hee.

x--x--x--x--x--x--x--x--x--x--x  
WHEN YOU WISH UPON A MATERIA  
x--x--x--x--x--x--x--x--x--x--x  
CHAPTER EIGHT

  
When Cloud woke up the next day, there was nobody else in the bunk.

He sat up and stared blearily at the room, rubbing his eyes. As he swung his legs off the bed, memories of yesterday flooded his mind. His head reeled for a while, and he allowed it to sort out the influx information. Then he rose to full height and blinked in confusion.

'Day Two in the past,' he announced to himself in his mind, 'begins with a sudden mass disappearance.'

'Ha-ha, very funny,' Vincent scoffed.

Cloud frowned. 'Don't you ever sleep, Vincent?'

'Only when I'm in the right coffin,' the older man quipped.

A cold gust of imaginary wind swept through the bunk, and Cloud shivered.

Coughing slightly, Vincent continued, 'Into the toilet with you, young man.'

'What? Why?' Cloud was confused, but nevertheless complied. He ducked into the toilet, followed closely by the ever pliant Leviathan and closed the door quietly behind him.

'The bunkers are bugged, but the toilets aren't. I guess you could say that Shinra had some decency left in them when they built this training centre.' He paused. 'And you are going to need a lot of concentration for what we are now going to discuss.'

Cloud nodded. He splashed a handful of water on his face and gargled some of the Shinra standard issue mouthwash. Finishing which, he then fumbled around with the materia pendant and aimed it at the blank wall, where Vincent's visage appeared immediately. Cloud covered the toilet seat and sat down on it, trying to get himself ready for what he knew was going to be a heavy conversation. Leviathan coiled itself up around Cloud's feet. "I hope you don't mind that I speak out loud, then," Cloud said.

"Certainly not," Vincent replied, his image on the wall nodding curtly. "Do whatever you feel is more natural."

The blond covered his face with his palms and rubbed it with circular motions. He took a deep breath, released it, and looked up. "So," he began, "let's cut to the chase."

Vincent was holding up a notebook of sorts, and he flipped a few pages over. After reading a few lines in silence, he glanced up from the book and said, "There were several interesting things that happened yesterday, and most of them were related in one way or another to Sephiroth. To begin with, there's the fact that your Confu spell doesn't seem to be working on him."

"It works on everyone else, though," Cloud offered.

"Yes, even me," Vincent said, and he narrowed his eyes slightly, scrutinising Cloud. "And it's working even now."

"So what's your explanation for that?"

"Hold on, Cloud," Vincent waved the notebook slightly for attention, "this is actually related to the other points about him that we've gleaned," the ex-Turk flipped another page. "He saw through your spell, not even realising you had been surrounded by one. He saw Leviathan, when everyone else couldn't. Leviathan did not view him as a menace, when by all rights it should have, considering your past experiences with him and the fact that Leviathan draws upon your psyche to react. Not just that, the summon even went so far as to take energy from him. This is an unprecedented act for a summon creature. Absorbing energy from another master should have been tantamount to suicide for these creatures, whose very lives in this world are tied with their intricate link to their summoners."

There was the sound of another page being flipped. Cloud kept listening with his head bowed.

"Last night, Leviathan demonstrated a consistent willingness to listen to instructions from Sephiroth, provided you gave it the go-ahead. We've tried that with Leviathan when you were here with us, but the creature only listened when it felt like it. Which was about once in a long while, and in a random pattern. And to top it all off, we also found out that not only is Sephiroth able to negate your spells - as in the case of the Confu, he is also apparently able to - when within close range, interrupt the spell you were casting to keep yourself linked with us, and hear our communication as if it had been intended for him all along."

Vincent paused, took a breath, and flipped one more page.

"Now, what do you suppose that all means?"

The blond was silent. He had a vague idea forming in his head, but he was loathe to say it out loud. "Tell me what you think," he mumbled, his hands gripping the edge of the covered toilet tightly.

"Yes, I suppose I should," Vincent continued with his monotonous, businesslike tone of voice. "Two possibilities here, Cloud," the man tapped on the book. "The first one, is that Sephiroth's abilities are much higher than we give him credit for. That is why he was able to see through your Confu ruse, and likewise Leviathan. That might also explain why he was also able to interrupt your communication spell, but I think you know better than I do that this explanation is only acceptable by a very long stretch."

Cloud frowned and glanced to a side. "What's the other possibility?" He asked after a long, solemn silence.

Vincent gave his friend a scrutinising look. As if trying to evaluate if the younger man was ready to hear the information. Eventually, he shrugged slightly and returned his attention to the notebook. "Cloud," his voice was clear and sombre, "what is your relationship with Sephiroth?"

The blond had not been expecting the question. His head snapped up and he stared at his friend, wide-eyed with confusion. After some time, he realised that Vincent was still waiting for his reply. He frowned. "Umm..." he could not figure out what Vincent was trying to get at. "...you mean... now? Or in the future? I mean... the present... that is... my present... err..."

Vincent chuckled. "There is only one you, Cloud. Let me ask you again: What is your relationship with Sephiroth?"

"I, err..." Cloud wracked his brains for a proper answer. He had never bothered to sit down and define the technicalities of his relationship with the insane General who would not stop making life difficult for him whether he was actually there or not. "We're enemies...?"

"Right, and wrong," Vincent returned with a straight face. He leaned towards a side and placed the notebook somewhere. "Superficially speaking, that is indeed what you two are. On a deeper level, however, I would say that you two are very much like two sides of the same coin." When he saw that Cloud had half-risen and was about to protest, he held a hand up to stall him. "What I'm going to say may be unpleasant, but know that I do not mean to offend. Sit down, listen, and listen well."

Although unwilling, Cloud nevertheless yielded, sitting back down and clutching the seat again.

"Only two people have ever survived Project S," said Vincent when he decided that Cloud was receptive enough. He allowed for a pause, for the information to sink in. "What would that make the two of them?"

Understanding dawned slowly. Cloud's eyes widened until they were comically so, and his jaw slacked. He thought he had a vague idea, but now he knew. "Sephiroth was the original... and I'm the clone," he whispered without thinking. "That's why he... because the spells of the clone wouldn't have an effect on the original...!"

"If I could reach out to you now," Vincent interrupted with a firm and slightly angry voice, "I want to know that I would slap you. Hard. With my claw."

The blond tensed and shut up with a gulp.

"Thank you," Vincent said pleasantly, when he saw that he had Cloud's attention again. "That was not what I meant, but I thank you anyway for your insight to the matter." He sighed softly. "There is no need to use every opportunity to try to diminish yourself like that, Cloud. What I wanted to say was that because of your being subject to Project S for a period of time, your internal workings have somehow been tweaked to resemble that of Sephiroth's. Obviously you are not a clone in the fullest sense of the word, seeing as you do not have silver hair and green eyes, but you have inherited a similar legacy.

"The realm of MP is one that has never been fully investigated, so nobody can say for sure how it actually works. However, the Project's similar experiments may have somehow forged an unknown bond among the subjects that allows one to influence the other; specifically - on the psychical plane, which MP operates on. By the look of things, Hojo was probably unaware of this. It may very well be an undocumented and unexpected side-effect, considering the high mortality rate of the Project. But, I digress," Vincent broke off from his semi-rant to look at Cloud, who stared at him with something akin to incredulity in his eyes. "Do you understand what I am trying to say so far?"

Cloud blinked, then nodded slowly. "So... how does this all come round?"

"Notice that the things not going according to plan with Sephiroth are all linked to matters of the mind - your spells not working on him; him interrupting your spells; Leviathan being plain as day to him; Leviathan partaking of his energy... etcetera. When I took this into consideration, I figured it must be because the makeup and quality of your MPs are similar to an alarming degree. Otherwise, Leviathan would not so much as bat an eyelid to the energy Sephiroth was emanating at the Reactor. Energy not from their summoners is like poison to summon creatures. That would also explain why Leviathan always listens to Sephiroth, but defers the final decision to you. It recognises that Sephiroth has a similar mental signature, but knows that ultimately, you are its summoner. Right, Leviathan?"

The snake said nothing. It was sound asleep.

"He can influence me on the mental plane... yeah, I think I already knew about that a long time ago," Cloud scoffed.

"If you ask me, it's highly possible that the influencing goes both ways," Vincent mumbled, as he usually did when he was talking and thinking at the same time. "He doesn't do it consciously, unlike the one(s) you've defeated. Perhaps if you feel up to it, you could conduct your own experiment about this... worrying side-effect..."

Cloud did not appear to be listening. "Does that mean he can control my MP?" He blanched at the sudden thought. Putting his head in his hands, he let out a long sigh. "I came all the way back just to be reminded of this? That I'm his inferior? His puppet?"

Vincent laughed softly, causing Cloud to snap his head up and glare at him.

"No, Cloud," the older man was saying, in a light tone. "I think this makes you his equal."

Cloud bowed his head, so Vincent was unable to observe his reaction. Soon, he looked up, but he had already put on his usual mask of nonchalance by then.

"Thank you," he simply said.

"It's no problem, Cloud," Vincent warmly replied, after which the conversation drifted into the domain of mundane chatting. Finally, Cloud decided that he had had enough information for the day. He switched the spell back to its second level and walked out of the toilet with a heavy heart and a heavy mind.

'They're still not back yet,' the blond remarked, as he stared at the empty bunk.

'Perhaps you're late for training,' Vincent suggested.

'Oh please, those guys are so afraid of collective responsibility that they'd have dragged me out of bed if it was the last thing they did.'

'Then you should probably look for them. Something doesn't seem right here.'

Cloud scratched his head absent-mindedly. 'Don't be so paranoid.'

--x

Three corridors and countless rooms later, however, Cloud found himself agreeing with Vincent.

Something was not right with the training centre.

Not a single soul could be found on the entire floor.****

x--x--x--x--x--x--x--x--x--x--x  
12 oct 2008  
email xd at tougenkyou dot net

short chapter to thrash out some of the issues raised so far.


	9. Chapter Nine

**Standard disclaimers apply.**

**x--x--x--x--x--x--x--x--x--x--x  
WHEN YOU WISH UPON A MATERIA  
x--x--x--x--x--x--x--x--x--x--x  
CHAPTER NINE**

"Where is everybody?" Cloud wondered aloud, as he pushed an ajar bunk door open and peered inside. It was empty, like all the other rooms before it. After a while more, he closed the door and continued his way down the hall. Chancing upon a clock, he noted that it was late morning going to noon. No wonder he felt so well rested. But why had his bunkmates not woken him up for the morning drill?

'Perhaps you should check the cafeteria, or the public square, where people are more likely to be,' Vincent was saying.

'Right, after this last room...' The door to said room slid open without preamble, surprising Cloud, who had not done anything to it - except stand in front of it. He stared at the doorlock keypad, which was flashing green. 'Strange...' he frowned, but nevertheless stepped inside.

The door slid shut after him, and as Cloud stared at the room, he could see that it was not a bunk room, but a store room of sorts. There were wooden boxes stacked across the area in a haphazard manner, and several spoilt book shelves were lined up against the walls. The room was not lighted, and there was actually dust on some of the boxes. 'I don't think anybody's been in here for a long time,' was Cloud's deduction. He walked forward and peered into one of the opened crates. It was full of materia of various colours.

"Several years, to be precise," a voice spoke out from the entrance along with the sound of the door sliding open again. Cloud whipped around and pointed his rifle at the source of the voice, silently thanking Vincent for reminding him to equip it before leaving the room. Leviathan turned as well, but it remained silent. Cloud wondered about that.

He discovered the reason, however, the moment he recognised the newcomer.

"Hello, Cloud. We seem to meet at the strangest places," Sephiroth was looking highly amused at the current situation. He glanced at the rifle, then back at Cloud. "Still on the cadet mission?"

Cloud blinked. He lowered his rifle. Thankfully, his mind was still blissfully blank, having yet to fully comprehend the whole thing. "...yes. I'm supposed to be here for... one week, I believe. If nothing crops up," he managed to say. That was how long he was supposed to be back in the past, right?

At that, Sephiroth nodded, and said nothing else. He stalked deeper inside until he blended in with the shadows. Not long after, the sound of a switch being turned on could be heard, and light flooded the room. The SOLDIER then returned to where Cloud was. He folded his arms and said, "Since you're here, you might as well help out."

A feeling of dread crept over Cloud. "Help out?" He parroted, realising belatedly that it was the wrong question to ask.

Sephiroth sat down somewhere on an unopened crate and reached into an opened one. He pulled out a materia and tossed it to Cloud, who caught it on reflex.

"These boxes contain materia that were rescued from the bottom of the Nibelheim Reactor," said the General. "Years ago when the team stationed there moved to Midgar, they brought the materia along. Nobody could use the materia for some reason, though, so they were abandoned to the store on this level. The Science Department wants to convert this store into a medical spot for the cadets, so they've requested for the SOLDIER Department to check the materia and clear it out." Sephiroth paused and rolled a green materia in between his fingers. It glowed. "I was here earlier this morning. Most of the materia are already dead. I'm going to run them by the materia scientists once I get them all sorted out. Since President Shinra has given all the cadets a holiday today, you probably don't have anything planned, so you might as well help out," he finished with a knowing smirk on his face.

"Holiday?" Cloud echoed numbly.

"Yes, apparently yesterday's party put him in such a good mood that he felt obliged to give everybody a day off today," Sephiroth explained, taking another materia out from the box and testing it. "The announcement was blasted over the PA system this morning; you couldn't have missed it, even if it was at a rather unearthly hour."

"Apparently I did," Cloud was miffed. And all his bunkmates probably heard the announcement, but neglected to tell him about it. He sighed, and Leviathan cooed, as if to say it was all right. There was something else weighing on his mind, however, and he decided to voice it out. "Why are you doing this, though? This doesn't seem like a job for a SOLDIER 1st."

For a while, Sephiroth did not utter any reply. Just as Cloud thought he was never going to answer the question, the SOLDIER spoke up. "Orders from the Director of the Science Department."

"Ah," Cloud said, understanding immediately.

Sephiroth said nothing after that, and the silence became slightly unbearable. In an attempt to ease the tension, Cloud turned away and came across a box which was still sealed. He stuffed the green materia Sephiroth had thrown to him just now into a random pocket on his uniform and examined the crate. Opening it was not a big problem. Inside, he found a few pieces of materia and some stacks of unlabelled documents. Curious, he picked a file up and flipped through it.

And then he slammed the file shut immediately.

Sephiroth turned to look at him questioningly. Cloud put the most sheepish expression he could on his face and wracked his mind for something that would divert the SOLDIER's attention, "Err... what should I do after I figure out what the materia is?"

"There is no need to record anything. We just need to sort out the materia into working and not-working piles," was Sephiroth's answer, his attention already back to the box in front of him.

"All right," Cloud heaved a silent sigh of relief that the other man was not going to interrogate him for his actions just now. So Sephiroth could hear and sense Cloud's thoughts if he was consciously projecting it, but not when he was thinking to himself? Cloud could feel his mind boggling at the concept. This was a job for Vincent. "I'll just... take this box over there to look through it then..." the mercenary mumbled, collecting the box of documents and toddling over to the furthest corner of the room he could find.

Once there, he turned and glanced at Sephiroth from the corner of his eyes. 'Sephiroth, how long do you think this will take?' Cloud asked in his mind. Sephiroth kept staring at the box in front of him, giving no indication that he had heard Cloud talking in his mind. 'Sephiroth? Did you hear my question just now?' Cloud tried again, edging even further away from the General as he mind-spoke. 'And just to be sure you really cannot hear my head... did you know that Hojo is your father?'

There was silence. Sephiroth continued working, oblivious.

'Thank goodness,' Cloud then put the box down and sat down in front of it, making sure he faced Sephiroth so he could notice immediately if Sephiroth showed signs of being able to hear his mind. He was glad he remembered Vincent saying that the spell could only be interrupted when Sephiroth was close enough. 'Vincent, are you still there?'

'Always, Cloud,' Vincent's voice sounded out smoothly in his head. 'I saw a bit of the file you were flipping through. Did Sephiroth mention that these boxes came from the Nibelheim reactor?'

'Yes, he did,' Cloud confirmed. He reached into the box and pretended to be rummaging through it. With his hands in the box, he opened the file again and laid it out so that he could see the contents. In the meantime, he took out a materia from inside and held it, so that it would appear as if he was working on his assignment. 'This file talks about Project S. What is it even doing here? I thought the Shinra mansion basement held the only copy.'

There was a short silence. Then Vincent said, 'It is highly improbable that Hojo would have kept only one copy of records about his most precious experiment. As demented as he may appear, he was a meticulous scientist through and through. This must be one of his backup copies. And who knows how many more there could be out there...'

Cloud tried to activate the materia that was in his hand. It remained muted. He set it aside and reached in for another materia, closing the file as well. '...Hojo had a reason for sending Sephiroth here, didn't he?'

Vincent could be heard shrugging. 'Hardly anything is a coincidence with that man.'

The blond had taken another materia out from the box, but his mind was still on the files inside. The nondescript, vanilla covers stared back out at him, their innocent covers belying the insidious content that laid within.

'Was it his intention all along?' Cloud could not help but wonder. 'Did he plan to have Sephiroth find out all along... so he can observe his reaction? I wonder how many times Hojo set Sephiroth up for this before he finally fell in Nibelheim...?'

'Speculations of such nature aside, what do you intend to do with these files, Cloud?' Vincent questioned.

The materia in Cloud's hand was dead as well, so he tossed it aside. 'I don't know. I'm thinking about it. Hang on...' He reached into the crate and retrieved yet another materia. This time it was a red materia. 'A summon?' Cloud was puzzled. 'Summon materia can be crystallised from Mako?'

'All materia has to come from somewhere,' Vincent replied, 'and crystallisation is the process of their growth. Once matured, they take the shape of orbs able to manifest the Planet's power when invoked correctly; kind of like presents from her to those inhabiting her. However, summon materia is a little different. Although it does come from crystallisation, the powers within does not directly belong to the Planet. When a materia is born devoid of the Planet's power - an extremely rare occurence by the way, a summon creature from an alternate plane will then inhabit it instead. Nobody knows for sure if the summons are forced to enter the materia or if they can choose not to, though. We also do not know which dimension exactly the summons come from, or what they do when not being called upon. That said, summon materia is generally rare and unique, so do handle with care.'

It took Cloud quite a while to absorb all that information. 'How come you know so much about summons?'

'We /are/ trying very hard to send Leviathan home over here, even if it may not seem that way, you know.'

The blond laughed softly under his breath. 'Thanks,' he managed to acknowledge, as he tried to activate the summon while musing, 'I wonder if it's still working...'

All of a sudden, Leviathan began to howl. Cloud was jolted from his spellcasting, visibly surprised at the unprovoked howling. This also caught the attention of Sephiroth, who looked over at the crying snake coiled up near Cloud's feet.

Before either Cloud or Sephiroth could say anything, however, the room disappeared, and the duo found themselves staring at a vast expanse of the most beautiful blue. Nothing from the storeroom they were in could be seen here. That is, nothing except the red materia still glowing away in Cloud's hand. Leviathan finished its soulful howl and lifted itself into the air. It circled Cloud and hissed softly with every turn.

Cloud was, however, not paying much attention to the flying snake at all. "What... how... where...?!" He managed to sputter, utterly bewildered at the sudden turn of events.

For his part, Sephiroth had risen to full height and was examining the surroundings as well. It felt strange, to say the least, standing atop a blue expanse which stretched for as far as the eye could see. The SOLDIER tried to take a step, and found that the expanse floor rippled like a disturbed water surface. "It looks like the sea," he remarked, before turning to look at the flustered Cloud. "You seem to have triggered something. What materia were you checking?"

"Me?" Cloud blinked in confusion at the SOLDIER. "Why me? You were looking through the materia too!"

"Somehow my gut instinct tells me it couldn't have been me," the edges of Sephiroth's lips curled slyly upwards. "After all, I'm not the one walking around with Leviathan hounding my every step."

Cloud had nothing to say in reply to that, so he settled for a pouting frown. But Sephiroth was right. He /had/ been trying to activate a materia when this happened. And not just any materia - a summon materia. He looked down at the materia he was still holding on to. The red orb was glowing, as Cloud had yet to terminate the spell. "I was checking this summon materia," he admitted.

"A summon materia," Sephiroth's brows lifted. He walked closer, leaving ripples on the expanse with his every step. When near enough, he bent down slightly to examine the glowing orb in Cloud's hand. Cloud held his hand outstretched so that the other man could see it more clearly. After some hesitation, the General asked, "Is the materia still alive?"

"I..." Cloud frowned as he tried to search through the materia with the energy he was infusing into it. "I can't tell." He eventually said. "I sense something inside, but it's not reacting to me like it normally would."

Sephiroth tilted his head to a side. "Perhaps you should try summoning the creature inside, then."

Cloud gulped at the suggestion. "This doesn't seem like the right time and place."

"When and where would it be the right time and place, then?" Sephiroth's face was straight, but his voice betrayed his slight exasperation.

"When we can verify that we're not really inside Shinra Building?" Was Cloud's unsure reply. "Just so that I don't end up accidentally destroying it or something...?"

The General pressed his lips firmly into a line. He looked like he was about to burst out laughing at Cloud's unwarranted concern over the Shinra Building. "SOLDIER. You have my permission to use that summon materia." He finally said, when he got his features under control again. "Since this happened when you were checking the summon materia, there is a high possibility that we have been hauled into another dimension, as is usually the case whenever summons are invoked. If you do not complete that spell, we may very well be stuck here forever. You may like it, but I will certainly be in much trouble if I do not return soon." He folded his arms and stared pointedly at Cloud. "Now what are you waiting for?"

Cloud initial response was to stare back. Then the gears in his mind kicked into action and he began to comprehend that Sephiroth's words were logical. "If anything happens, you will take the fall!" He muttered half-heartedly, as he focused on channeling his energy into the materia for the complete spell. He thought he heard Sephiroth snort in the background, but by then he was already too fully caught up with the spell to retort.

The materia glowed brighter, until it became a ball of white light.

There was a short silence.

Then the blue surface beneath them began to rumble and shake. The rumbling got louder and louder, until it sounded like the ground was about to split apart. Leviathan roared, adding to the din. Cloud was starting to see double because of the shaking, but to his surprise, he maintained his balance on his own two feet. The world was shaking, but not him.

As Cloud continued to struggle to see clearly, a large shadow appeared from beneath the surface of the blue. With what sounded like a loud splash, a huge, ominous figure arose from the sea with its steed and stood still above it. The figure had burst out from the surface so suddenly, and so close to Cloud, that he could not help but retreat instinctively. His feet had yet to catch up with his mind, however, so he tripped and fell onto the ground in a graceless heap.

The materia he had been holding fell as well. Its bright glow dimmed the moment it left Cloud's hand, and as it rolled to a stop, it returned to its original red colour.

Cloud looked up at the towering, heavily armoured figure, whom he knew quite well. "Odin...!" He blurted out. Beside him, Leviathan hissed protectively.

Upon hearing his name, Odin turned his helmeted head to pin his summoner with a sharp look. "Ah, it is the little Cloud Strife again," the summon said in a pleasant voice which belied his daunting outlook. "Whom shall I cleave for him this time?" Odin asked, his Gunge Lance already brandished. His attention then turned to the environment for the first time. "My, my, we are in the Dirac Sea. However did you come to be present here?"

"The Dirac Sea?" Sephiroth, whose had gone unnoticed until now, asked.

Odin swung around immediately and pointed his lance at Sephiroth. The General stood his ground and showed no indication of being intimidated. Odin tilted his head questioningly. "You are the enemy, and yet you are not. Not now. Not yet. Ah. Maybe you never have been." After saying his piece, Odin retracted his weapon and returned his attention to Cloud, who was gaping like a goldfish on the ground. "You can understand my words, then?" He asked. "Just like I can understand you?"

Cloud's head was still spinning, but not from the shaking anymore. He nodded at Odin's query, and slowly clambered to his feet. Leviathan launched itself into the air and hovered around Cloud, wary and careful. "What is this place?" Cloud asked, figuring he might as well get some answers while Odin seemed willing to talk. "And how did we get here?"

"This is the Dirac Sea, the sea of the summons," Odin answered plainly. "It is our home and respite when not being called upon." He paused to allow the information to be digested. During the pause, he noticed Leviathan hovering near Cloud. "Ah, if it isn't Leviathan." Putting an armoured finger to his chin, he nodded to himself. "I get it. I get it now."

"I don't," Cloud interrupted the summon in his reflection. "So this is the sea of the summons... but how did we get here? I don't remember summon materia working this way..."

"Or do you?" Odin questioned. He did not wait for a reply, instead continuing, "When we are called upon, the energy that is to feed us is channeled through materia into the Sea. We then emerge from the Sea in response and move through the materia into your dimension. Depending on what we are called upon to do, we may have to move our targets and summoners back to the Dirac Sea to perform our duties. I believe that is why some of your ancient records say that summons take place in another world. Not exactly true, but not exactly false, either."

"So you moved us here?" Cloud asked, still confused.

"No," Odin shook his head. "You are in the Dirac Sea because of a conflict of interest. You have Leviathan with you, but you attempted to call another summon. Leviathan then entered the sea to communicate with the other summon, namely, me. Leviathan's message to me is clear enough. 'I am in control. I will assist my master. I need no interference.'"

Cloud glanced at the hovering snake from the corner of his eyes. The snake remained silent, still staring at Odin. "If Leviathan wants to talk to you," the blond frowned, "why am I here as well?"

Odin considered that question for a while. "I do not know, Cloud Strife. It appears you are somehow linked to Leviathan on the mental plane. If so, then it is impossible for Leviathan to go anywhere for long without you." He paused, and turned to look at Sephiroth, who had been quietly listening to the conversation all this time. "And of course, someone of the same signature would have a high risk of being implicated." Odin crossed his arms. "Regardless of what Leviathan may think, however, I have been called, so I cannot leave until I finish my job."

"Can't you just dive back into the sea?" Cloud suggested. "I mean, I have nothing for you to do."

"It doesn't work that way, summoner," Odin laughed shortly. "You made a wish, and I cannot rest again until I have granted it."

"A wish?" Cloud blinked.

"Did you never learn that using materia is like making wishes?" Odin sounded amused. "But, no matter," he shrugged the subject aside for now. "It has been so long since I last spoke with someone from your dimension who understood me, so forgive me if I seem to be ranting. Now..." the summon paused and lowered his head, possibly considering something. "...I am unable to assist you while I am here, and Leviathan is certainly loathe to allow me to travel to your dimension. I must respect that. There is, however, another summon from the sea willing to do your bidding. And that one has no compunctions about going against Leviathan at all," Odin chuckled privately. "Consider your wish granted, summoner."

"Wait, what," Cloud held his hands up and shook his head. "First of all, I didn't summon you for anything. I only wanted to test if the materia was still alive. And secondly..." the blond frowned, "...summons are actually interchangeable...?"

"You do have something you want, human," Odin stated calmly, "even if you may not realise it yet." He did not explain any further, simply going on to address Cloud's second concern. "The Dirac Sea is a pool of common energy; something like your Lifestream, though not completely similar. What one summon cannot do, another can step in as a replacement, if willing." Even as he spoke, the surface of the sea began to bubble and the world started to shake again. "This rarely happens, of course, but you've always been an interesting one. Treat it as a sign of goodwill, if you like."

Something fiery red shot out from the sea and vanished into the sky above in the blink of an eye. Leviathan hissed angrily, staring at the trail of smoke the new summon had left behind, whereas Odin merely laughed.

"I don't understand..." Was all Cloud could say amidst the chaos. "Can you tell me-"

What he was about to say next was stopped by Leviathan's loud howls. The world around him swirled and before he knew it, both he and Sephiroth were back in the store room they were in before getting dragged into the Dirac Sea. Cloud stared at the surroundings, still trying to wrap his head around to what had just transpired. Standing off to a side, Sephiroth blinked once. But that was all he had to show for his confusion, if it was even confusion at all.

The sound of a crackling fire was what snapped Cloud back into reality. He lowered his head to look for the source of the sound, and was not really surprised to see the box he had been examining previously going up in merry flames. He had a feeling something like this would happen. But why had he felt like that?

It was almost as if he had been wishing for this. Wishing that he could destroy the reports that would eventually lead Sephiroth into insanity.

As soon as that thought materialised, however, Cloud shook his head in an attempt to get rid it. Odin's words were affecting him too much, and he was not sure if it was a good or bad thing.

"I am very curious about you, Cloud," Sephiroth's pensive voice made Cloud look up. The General had his arms folded across his chest, and a visible frown marred his usually impeccable facade. The glow of the flames danced across his features, making him seem more surreal than usual. "Your affinity with summons doesn't appear to stop at Leviathan alone, does it?" He eyed the floating snake as he said this. "Leviathan aside, there are many other things about you that just don't fit in," Sephiroth gave Cloud a piercing stare, his words making the blond break out in cold sweat for more reasons than one. "Are you hiding something from me?"

Cloud gulped. "I'm nobody, sir," he tried to sidestep Sephiroth's question. "Just another person working for Shinra."

The SOLDIER stared long and hard at Cloud. Then he turned away and sighed. "Much as I would like to pursue the issue, Lazard's disappearance has complicated matters for me. Don't think I won't be bringing this up with you again, Cloud, but now is just not the time," Sephiroth pinched the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes. "I want your frank reply on just one question, and then you can go," he said while opening his eyes and looking at Cloud squarely in the face. "Tell me," a pause, "are you a friend or a foe?"

Momentarily stunned, for he had not been expecting a question like that, Cloud found himself reaching into his mind for an appropriate answer. What could he say that would not make Sephiroth even more suspicious of him? Somewhere in his head, he thought he could hear a voice whispering something about honesty. He could not tell if it was Vincent, or the voice of reason that had accompanied him ever since Hojo's interference.

"I don't know," Cloud finally said, with his head bowed. "I..."

"Hey, Sephiroth, I've come as called!" A bright, cheery voice burst into the scene, drowning out the sound of the door sliding open. When the figure came into view, Cloud saw that it was Zax. "Cloud?" The dark haired SOLDIER raised an eyebrow. "What are you doing here?" He asked, then turned to look at Sephiroth suspiciously.

'Now's your chance, Cloud,' Vincent mind-nudged Cloud quietly. The younger man jolted out of his brooding thoughts and returned to reality.

"It's nothing, Zax," Cloud managed to stutter while retreating as far as he could from both SOLDIERs in the room. He glanced at Sephiroth, who had not stopped staring at him, and then at Zax, who looked rather concerned. Silently apologising to his friend under his breath, he continued, "I...I'll be off then, won't want to interfere with your work... bye!" He bolted out of the room at the speed of light, giving neither Sephiroth nor Zax a chance to stop him or even say anything.

After the sound of the door sliding close, there was an ominous silence.

Then Zax turned around to scrutinise the unapologetic looking Sephiroth. "Don't bully my buddy just because he's a cadet NOW, okay?" He warned half-jokingly. "He's got a bright future ahead in SOLDIER! Don't scare him away with your antisocial aura!"

Sephiroth sighed, unfolding his arms and reaching into a nearby opened box. He grabbed a materia and activated it, summoning a first level water spell to put out the fire that had more or less consumed the box Cloud had been rummaging through just now. Then, he flung the materia at Zax, hitting him squarely on the forehead and making him topple over with a yelp. "Get to work, Zax," he commanded. "If you behave, I might even let you off before midnight."

Needless to say, the General was treated to a flood of whines and complaints for the rest of his assignment.

**x--x--x--x--x--x--x--x--x--x--x  
25 oct 2008  
email xd at tougenkyou dot net**

**history starts going off course from this chapter onwards :O will cloud ever manage to steer it back on course?! plenty of made-up facts about summons! i love making up stuff!! whee!**


	10. Chapter Ten

**Standard disclaimers apply.**

This chapter is chaos.

x--x--x--x--x--x--x--x--x--x--x  
WHEN YOU WISH UPON A MATERIA  
x--x--x--x--x--x--x--x--x--x--x  
CHAPTER TEN

  
"You know," Cloud was saying, "I thought this was supposed to be a crack fic."

"Hmm, hmm," Vincent replied in a noncommittal manner.

"I mean, really! Where's the crack? Where are the inane jokes? The laughable plotholes?? The astoundingly embarrassing plot devices???"

"Oh, you're just not looking hard enough," Vincent commented offhandedly. "Don't worry, they'll come."

Cloud narrowed his eyes at the image of his friend on the toilet wall. "What are you so distracted with?"

"Statistics and readings, Cloud, nothing you'll be interested in," Vincent replied, again in a nonchalant tone. He was not even looking at Cloud, but at something else on the table in front of him. "You said you were pulled into the sea of the summons, but the camera caught nothing of that sort. All we saw was you activating a materia, then the box in front of you bursting into flames. At the same time there were some abnormal readings in the air around you, and if we can decipher it, we may be able to find a way to create a portal back to the sea of the summons and somehow toss Leviathan inside..."

Cloud blinked. At the moment, Leviathan was fast asleep, coiled up around Cloud's neck. "Okay," Cloud said, "I sort of get what you mean." He frowned. "And what were we talking about before that again?"

This time, Vincent looked up, and tilted his head to a side. He appeared to be thinking about it, but eventually, he shrugged and returned to the readings.

"Vincent," Cloud spoke to his friend again, slightly irritated that he did not appear to be concerned. Vincent lifted an eyebrow to indicate that Cloud had his attention, but his eyes remained on the sheaves of paper in his hand. "I think Sephiroth suspects something."

The man being spoken to actually laughed lightly. "Given the circumstances, I'm hardly surprised."

"It's not funny!" Cloud complained, his manner glum. "What if he finds out? What am I going to say?" A pause. "What if I /really/ changed history?"

This time, Vincent stopped poring over the notes and lifted his eyes. "I seem to recall having this conversation with you just a day ago. I asked you if you wanted to change history, and you replied that you did not know." He put all his notes to a side, narrowing his eyes slightly as he continued, "However it looks like that question has kept hounding you since our last discussion. Have you perhaps found an answer?"

"I... I don't know!" Cloud's usually cool facade was near its limits, his exasperation and frustration starting to show. "But what I think doesn't matter, because it's already /happening/ isn't it? Sephiroth never knew me when I was a cadet. And he most definitely did not think I was a SOLDIER! What's going to happen when Leviathan goes back and I have to trade places with myself again?"

Vincent said nothing in reply to the question. He gazed at Cloud for a long time, until the silence became somewhat unbearable. "But you are still there, aren't you?"

After a long pause, Cloud found himself staring at Vincent, confident that the baffled look on his face would prompt him to explain further. The edges of Vincent's lips twitched slightly as he tried to suppress the amusement he was feeling. As jaded as Cloud could be towards the people around him sometimes, right now he was nothing more than a confused teenager struggling with problems that were a little too big for his breeches.

Cloud was still staring, so Vincent straightened himself slightly and said, "I have told you before, Cloud, that there is only one you. What happens to the you in the past will have a direct influence on the you in the future. For example, if someone were to kill your younger self right now, what do you suppose will happen to you, the older person?"

Cloud took a few seconds to consider it. "I wouldn't even be here, since I'm already dead?"

"Yes," Vincent nodded. "Now let us extend the timeframe. Suppose you've finished your mission, and you trade places with your younger self. Now he's back in his proper time, and then someone kills him or otherwise does something to influence the course of his life. What will happen to future you?"

"I... just wouldn't be around anymore," Cloud replied. "If anything major changes in my life, I won't be able to live for so long..."

"Exactly," Vincent cut in, attempting to drive home the point. "The fact that you - older you, are still 'around' shows that nothing has happened or will happen to your younger self to alter the course of history so drastically that you no longer exist in the future." He paused to give Cloud some time to absorb the information. "So as long as you don't start suddenly disappearing into nothingness, I'd say there is a high chance nothing is going to happen to your younger self that will cause an irreparable rift to your lifetime. Even if your meetings with Sephiroth may cause you to think otherwise." A short silence. "This is all purely conjecture, of course," Vincent disclaimed his authority on the matter. "The laws of time are not easily understood."

Cloud was still staring at Vincent. His confusion, however, had dissolved into consideration. "Is it a good or bad thing for younger me that I'm still around, then?" He asked with a self-deprecating chuckle.

"I do not know how you feel about it," Vincent said, his voice quiet, "but I do know I have always been, and will always be, grateful for your company."

"...thank you," was Cloud's simple reply.

A soft knock on the toilet door interrupted the duo's conversation, and Cloud switched the communication materia to the second level out of pure reflex. Vincent's visage vanished from the wall, and Cloud turned around just in time to see Bunkmate1 cracking open the door cautiously.

"Hey Cloud," Bunkmate1 whispered, "you all right or something? Making an awful lot of noise in there, so I thought..."

"I'm fine," Cloud blurted out before he could think. He was still clutching onto the materia pendant tightly, so he let go of it and went to pull open the door. "Sorry, you need to use this, right? I'm done. Go ahead."

Bunkmate1 continued to stand at the threshold of the toilet, not stepping in and not moving away. "Hey, err..." he put a hand through his hair and looked at the ground. "So like... we're mates, right? If you're... err... having any problems or anything... talk to us, okay?" Bunkmate1 looked up and caught Cloud's eyes. "It's not healthy talking all day long to someone who doesn't exist, mama always told me. Don't worry, we won't laugh!" He punched the wide-eyed Cloud on the shoulder in a joking manner. "You can treat us all as your imaginary friend 'Vincent' if you want, okay? Don't worry!" He repeated while punching Cloud's shoulder again, this time shoving it harder.

The blond stumbled backwards slighty, eyes still as wide as saucers. His bunkmates had been overhearing his conversations with Vincent; that much he could deduce (no thanks to Shinra's substandard walls). And then they had gone ahead and concluded that there was nothing out of the ordinary with the situation (for which he was thankful), but that there was something wrong with him himself?

That certainly would not do.

"It's not what you think..." Cloud stepped forward just as Bunkmate1 turned around and walked back into the bunk. Bunkmate1 did not appear to have heard him, as he continued walking, so Cloud followed as quickly as he could. "Vincent's not an imaginary friend... not really... but let's just leave it as that. What I meant was, this isn't a mental thing, so there's no need to inform the infirmary about it..." A chill crept up his spine at the possibility of the infirmary eventually referring him to the Science Department. "And..."

"Oh, shut it, Cloud," Bunkmate1 was saying as he threw himself onto his bunk bed. Cloud's other bunkmates were already lounging around on their beds, reading magazines and snacking on junk food. "I already said it's nothing. We won't spill. Right, guys?" Bunkmate1 lifted his head and asked the other two, who grunted something akin to assent and then promptly went back to their gluttonous ways.

Cloud hovered by the bunk bed, still feeling uncertain. 'You have to trust them for now. Push for more information at a better time later. They seem off guard, so ask them about this morning,' Vincent's suggestion was a relief to Cloud, who had forgotten for a while that he still had someone on his side. He straightened himself and nodded.

"Where did you guys go this morning?" He asked without any introduction. This caused all three of his bunkmates to stop doing whatever they were doing and look up at him. "Why didn't anybody tell me about the day off?" He tried to sound as angry as he could, but realised that he could barely manage to go past his usual monotone.

After that question, the bunkmates turned to look at each other, then back at Cloud. "Consider it payback, buddy," Bunkmate3 said with a grin.

"Payback?" Cloud was naturally confused. "For?"

"For not telling us that you KNOW General Sephiroth!" Bunkmate2 sat up on his bed suddenly, making the rusty springs beneath whine in disapproval. The magazine he had been reading fell to the ground as he leaned forward to scrutinise the still confused Cloud. "He told us all about last night," Bunkmate2 pointed at Bunkmate3, who nodded vigorously. "The General came out of the party and whisked you off somewhere, didn't he?! That must've been so cool!" He slammed his hands against the bed, making the springs creak again. "How did you get to know the General?! What did you guys talk about??"

Memories of last night came rushing back to Cloud at the mention of Sephiroth whisking him off, and he groaned inwardly. 'You have two choices here, Cloud. Either tell them the truth, or deny that you know the man with every fibre of your being,' Vincent helpfully proposed.

'Of course I'm going to deny their allegations. Does it look like they're going to believe Sephiroth and I are planning to secretly hide a dragon from the Science Department in a Midgar plate room above the reactor's boiler?' He sighed when he heard Vincent chuckling. Out loud he said stiffly, "I don't know General Sephiroth. He just mistook me for someone else."

There was a short silence as his bunkmates made what they would out from Cloud's answer. "Huh..." Bunkmate3 eventually said, all the ruliness in his demeanour lost. "That's all?"

Cloud nodded. "That's all."

The bunkmates looked at each other again. "Gee, that was so anticlimatic I don't even know if I should laugh or not..." Bunkmate1 spoke up first, his face blank at the revelation.

"Sorry," Cloud shrugged.

"Yeah, you should be!" Bunkmate2 clamoured, but his voice was laughing. "You got us all worked up for nothing! We thought you'd be able to sneak us into the SOLDIER floor to watch them train or something!" He threw a magazine at Cloud, who thwacked it away with relative ease.

The magazine sailed towards the door to the bunk, which slid open silently and suddenly. A gloved hand deftly caught the book before it landed on his face. All the laughter in the bunk came to a halt when the newcomer lowered his hand with the magazine that was covering his face.

"I apologise for the sudden interruption," General Sephiroth said as he calmly placed the magazine on a nearby table, "but I need to borrow Cloud for a while."

There was silence. That is, if Cloud's internal shrieks were to be ignored. The shrieking, however, was loud enough to wake Leviathan up. The summon looked up with a start, launching itself into the air and twirling circles around its master, trying to see where the danger was.

Sephiroth waited expectantly at the door, and Cloud felt the need to facepalm - which he did. 'Why must you complicate my life so?' He purposely broadcasted his thoughts out, knowing that Sephiroth was close enough to hear it.

'Oh, did I come at a bad time?' Was the amused comeback.

When Cloud found himself at a loss of what to say in reply, Vincent cut in. 'You arrived just as Cloud was trying to convince his bunkmates that he has nothing to do with you,' Vincent's tone was tentative for some reason. 'Remember that Cloud is supposed to be incognito?'

'I see,' Sephiroth stated. 'I will explain the situation to them. Right now, I need you to head up to Lazard's office. Quickly, before the situation gets out of hand. Zax will tell you what to do once you get there.'

At that, Cloud removed his face from his palm and stared at Sephiroth, who was still at the door. Sephiroth then turned to a side to allow space for Cloud to step out of the door He tilted his head towards the outside while looking at Cloud. 'Go,' Sephiroth repeated.

The blond wondered how Sephiroth could still manage to sound so authoritative even as a mere voice in his head. 'Go on, Cloud, let Sephiroth handle this. He's more than able to, I should think,' Vincent gave Cloud a mental nudge, and that was enough to jolt Cloud away from his thoughts. He walked towards the door, passing by Sephiroth without a second glance. Once outside the bunk, he broke into a sprint, heading straight for the elevator. The passing air and the shimmering of Leviathan's scales as it floated along beside him calmed him down slightly, but the entire episode had been moving so fast it still felt like a dream.

Cloud's mind was blissfully blank until he stepped into the elevator, when Vincent spoke up again. 'Did you notice that, Cloud? Sephiroth was not only able to hear our thoughts, but broadcast his own thoughts to us as well.'

This new piece of information that Cloud had not previously considered gave him a literal jolt. He gripped the railings of the elevator and felt blood drain from his face. 'You're right...! But he doesn't have the materia... I'm the one... or does this have to do with our mental signatures again?'

'A very high possibility,' Vincent said. 'But I suppose it is a logical development. Since he is able to hear our conversation by interrupting the spell, it makes sense that he should also be able to communicate with us via the same spell loophole he has unconsciously tapped.'

'Wow,' Cloud sounded amazed even to himself. 'You weren't joking when you said we were linked somehow.'

The elevator chimed softly, just before the doors slid open in all its noisy grace. Cloud stepped out, his conversation with Vincent forgotten for a second. Leviathan followed, and began to hiss softly. It made Cloud stiffen subconsciously, for he could feel Leviathan was slightly unhappy about something.

The object of Leviathan's dismay came barrelling towards Cloud at breakneck speed before he had the chance to blink.

"Cloud!" Zax latched onto the blond like a lost boy. Without waiting for Cloud to reply, the SOLDIER started dragging him along the corridor, towards Lazard's office proper. "I don't know what Sephiroth meant, but apparently you have a way to deal with that thing, so deal with it! Quickly! Before it breaks out!"

"What? What's going on?" Cloud wished everybody would stop talking to him as if he could read minds. Before Zax could say anything else, however, he came within full view of Lazard's open office. Leviathan began to howl in great anger this time.

And Cloud's jaw just dropped.

In the middle of the office, a peacock-sized bird was trying to peck its way out of the barrier spell someone had placed around it. And it was making great progress, at that. The barrier was already cracked in several places.

"THIS is what's going on!" Zax held both hands out towards the bird. "That bird just came out of nowhere and started to set things on fire! It razed the bookshelf in Sephiroth's office to the ground, so we chased it down and finally managed to trap it here... I don't know for how long, though!"

As if on cue, more cracks started to appear on the barrier.

'Oh, I know who that is,' Vincent decided to add his cheerful opinion to the fray. Leviathan growled and hissed.

"Phoenix...?!" Cloud was oblivious to the pandemonium going on around and within him. "What the... who... how...?!"

Phoenix the summon stopped pecking at the sound of Cloud's voice. It looked up, meeting Cloud's eyes. Immediately, it began to warble and flap its wings. Leviathan hissed again, but stayed near Cloud, who was just about to collapse from sheer shock. An uncomfortable tug at the back of his mind jolted him back to reality. He could feel his MP being sapped away at an alarming speed.

And not by Leviathan, but by Phoenix.

As he watched in horror, Phoenix began to glow iridescent. It was a mere matter of seconds before it would break out of the barrier and... do whatever it had been trying to do prior to this. 'First things first Cloud, you need to stop Phoenix,' Vincent assessed the situation calmly. 'Leviathan seems more than happy to help.'

'Yes, but I can't do that in front of Zax...' Cloud snuck a glance at Zax, slightly relieved that his friend was apparently too enraptured by the glowing bird to notice that Cloud was currently oozing MP like a leaking tap. 'I need a distraction...' He looked around, the wheels in his head turning at top speed. Lazard's office was bereft of windows and enhanced with the strongest metal money could buy. Still, he was not without options. Glancing up, he saw what he expected to see - the sprinkler system. This was going to be his only chance, Cloud knew. 'Leviathan, make water spurt out from the sprinklers up there!'

The snake hissed once. Water burst out from the sprinklers immediately. A small shower at first, it slowly became a merciless torrent. The sprinklers broke away from their connections at the pressure, and the pipes holding the waters collapsed under the weight and speed of the gushing water. Documents drowned and furniture became displaced. It was mayhem of the highest order.

Just as Cloud had NOT planned. But hey, improvisation was his second name.

"Zax, I don't think we can handle this!" The blond cried out to his friend, who had been stunned speechless by the sudden turn of events. "Could you get someone to switch off the sprinklers before this entire floor is washed out? I'll go get Sephiroth to come back and take care of that bird!"

"Sounds like a plan!" Zax - always ready for action - snapped out of his reverie at Cloud's suggestion. He dashed towards the emergency stairwell. "The control room's just a few floors down, I'll go get the people there to shut the sprinklers up. Take the elevator, Cloud! The water hasn't reached it yet!" He yelled over the loud roar of falling water.

"Okay!!" Cloud shouted back. Zax flashed him a thumbs-up, which he returned. Then the SOLDIER was out of sight, the sound of the stairwell door slamming shut the last indication of his presence.

Cloud stood in the midst of the chaos for a few more seconds, until he could hear Zax's footsteps fade away into complete silence.

He sighed in relief, and turned around to face the office.

"Less water, Leviathan," Cloud commanded the summon, and the torrent quickly regressed into a shower. Turning around, he saw that the bird in the barrier was now a bright ball of light. It looked like a light bomb that was ready to go off anytime. Then Cloud figured it may not be a good idea to think about it that way, as it appeared to be taking his MP, and that would mean the bird could interpret his thoughts and possibly act on it.

Too late for that, though.

The Phoenix bomb blew up, shattering the barrier that had been holding it in and making a crater-like dent in the area that surrounded it. The summon itself was unscathed. It rose up majestically into the air like a, well, phoenix, and sang a song that sounded like a victory tune.

Leviathan started to hiss even more fiercely. Instead of staying with Cloud, the snake decided that this was war. It flew towards the bird with a series of angry spits. The bird returned them with a series of high-pitched screeches. The scales on Leviathan stood up, and Phoenix's feathers became ruffled. Energy began to gather at their mouths. It looked like they were ready to blast each other into the Lifestream if it was the last thing they did.

Cloud calmly walked in between the two squabbling summons and placed himself in the direct trajectory of their attacks should they indeed fire. This caused the two summons to immediately stop whatever they were going to do.

"That's enough," the icy tone Cloud's voice had taken on must have been unlike anything the summons had been expecting, for they cowed visibly. The blond, however, thought nothing of his tone, coolly turning to look at Phoenix. "Can you talk like Odin?" He asked.

Phoenix trilled beautifully.

"Didn't think so..." Cloud turned away and faced Leviathan instead. The floating snake looked somewhat contrite, but then again, Cloud was no expert on reading the facades of summon creatures, so he could not be sure. "Needless to say, you can't either, can you?"

Leviathan hissed and tilted its head.

Cloud sighed noisily. "I don't care what's going on between the two of you, but you are not to kill each other or cause any more trouble for me. Understand?"

A hiss and a chirp.

"Good," Cloud gave Leviathan a pat on the head, then turned back to Phoenix. He stared at the bird. "Um. You're my summon too, I assume? Since you're taking my MP and stuff... chirp once for yes."

Phoenix chirped once.

"I don't understand. How can I have two summons at once?" Cloud mumbled, his bemusement getting the better of him. "Do you know anything about this, Vincent?"

'I'm afraid not, Cloud. This is my first time seeing two summon creatures pledging allegiance to a single summoner at once, too.'

"Well, I know how I got Leviathan out, but what's with the bird?" Cloud scratched his head. "What are you doing here, Phoenix?" He decided to address the summon in question.

Phoenix chirped and took off into the air. It flew towards a shelf against the wall of the office and hovered in front of it. After singing a melodious song which Cloud could not make head or tail of, the bird gave its wings a mighty flap.

And the shelf burst into flames.

Cloud barely managed to suppress the gasp that was threatening to escape from his throat. He had to remain calm. It was going to be his only lifeline in this madness. He sprinted towards the burning shelf and shooed Phoenix away. Leviathan was close by, so he commanded, "Put out the fire!"

A jet of water burst forth from Leviathan's opened mouth. The fire was doused within seconds.

Cloud tried to wave away the thick smoke that was billowing out from the charred remains of the shelf. Leviathan and Phoenix leaned forward in curiosity as well, but Cloud smacked them both away unceremoniously. The smoke had thinned by then, and he could make out some books. Most of them were already burned black, but there were some documents that were still salvageable if they tried. He reached out and took out one such book, to the high-pitched protests of Phoenix.

The blond flipped through the book, and found his eyes getting wider and wider every second. Before he could even reach the last page, he slammed the book shut and stared at the smoking shelf in front of him.

'I don't believe this,' he mumbled in his mind, knowing that Vincent would hear him. 'Hojo planted another stack of his Project S notes here as well?!'

'You underestimate him, Cloud,' Vincent said. 'He is much more scheming and meticulous than you give him credit for.'

'What is the point of this?' Indignation began to creep into Cloud's tone, even as he flung the book violently back into the sooted shelf. 'Who does that man think he is? Is everything an experiment to him? Is he really so interested in seeing Sephiroth's reaction to the truth about his birth?!'

Vincent wisely chose silence as his reply.

"Burn that whole shelf up!" Cloud commanded angrily, and Phoenix was only all too happy to comply. The shelf was back in an inferno the next thing Cloud knew, and he watched the merry flames crackle away with cold indifference.

Heavy stomping caused Cloud to turn around. Zax was back, and he whistled at the destruction in the office, which was starting to resemble a mini flood aftermath. Up on the ceiling, the sprinklers were still spraying gentle streams of water, so the SOLDIER was slightly baffled. "Hey, I thought they turned off the water here!"

'Oops,' Cloud was thinking to himself. He looked sidelong at Leviathan. 'Stop the water.'

The sprinklers stopped abruptly.

"Oh," Zax was still staring at the sprinklers, "...looks like they did." A while more of staring later, he blinked and glanced in Cloud's direction. This led to him discovering the shelf that was on fire. The man's eyes widened as he gasped. He dashed forward and quickly pulled Cloud away. Cloud stumbled backwards, and he could feel the air around him cooling down. He had not realised he had been standing so close to the burning shelf. "What happened?!" Zax asked, concerned. "And where's the bird?!"

'Stay away from me, Phoenix. Stay far, far away,' Cloud silently commanded the bird, who was disappointed, but obeyed by flying out of the office and coming to a stop on the corridor outside. "It set the shelf on fire," Cloud said. "It's outside now," he pointed.

Phoenix started singing a song, flapping its wings at the same time. Leviathan hovered around Cloud and hissed at intervals. Collectively, the two of them were giving Cloud a massive headache. The fact that they were both drawing on his MP probably had something to do with that, too.

"Well it looks calm enough now," Zax scratched the back of his head, confusion still evident on his face. "What did you do to make it behave?" Zax looked at Cloud from the corner of his eyes. There was slight suspicion in his tone.

Cloud tried not to be too surprised by the question, which he knew was coming, but had hoped Zax would forget to ask. "It's a summon, Zax," Cloud explained, trying to sound like he had the situation under control. "Once it finishes what it was summoned to do, it will stop. I suppose you were probably holding it back from its motive, that's why it was trying so hard to get out of the barrier just now."

Zax frowned, but he appeared to be considering it. "So someone summoned the bird to burn down that shelf?" Zax jerked a thumb at the now smouldering fixture. "And it's well-behaved now because it has accomplished that?"

"Well," Cloud racked his brain for an answer that would not make him sound smarter than he was supposed to be, "I don't actually know what it was trying to do when it came here," 'although I did ask it to burn down that shelf...' "but, since that thing is calmed down now, it should be safe to assume that it had been aiming for that shelf all along, I guess."

'Well played, Cloud. You needed no interference from me this time.' Vincent marvelled proudly in Cloud's head. Cloud, however, was too focused on the situation to stick a mental tongue out at his friend.

"What happened here?" A voice made both Cloud and Zax turn around to locate the newcomer. It was, needless to say, Sephiroth, and he looked slightly harried. When nobody was able to give him an answer, the General strode wordlessly into the watery office, took stock of the damage, and turned to Zax. "I want a damage assessment report submitted to me by tonight," he commanded.

"What? Why me?!" Zax protested immediately. "Cloud was here all along! I was downstairs trying to shut the sprinklers up!"

Sephiroth had already walked to the front of the burning shelf by now. He used his sword to cut into the ankle deep water that had gathered, and flicked the blade upwards, causing a strong jet of water to attack the shelf. Most of the flames were put out with a soft, sizzling sound. Satisfied that the fire was no longer going to spread, Sephiroth turned around to address the other SOLDIER. "Cloud is a just a /cadet/ now, like you keep reminding me whenever you have the chance," he said, while keeping his sword, "so why would I want a cadet to write reports to me for? You're a SOLDIER 1st, Zax. You know better than that."

Zax gaped. But he could perceive that Sephiroth had spoken with reason, so he turned and threw his hands up into the air in an act of surrender. Soon after that, however, he twisted his neck around to glance at Sephiroth again. "Wait a minute... you still haven't told me what you went to get Cloud for. Shouldn't you have gone to the materia guys instead? That bird is a summon, you know!"

All three of them turned their attention to Phoenix, who was pacing restlessly up and down the corridor outside.

'Zax doesn't know about Leviathan,' Cloud explained, feeling apologetic.

'I can see that,' Sephiroth replied, his eyes still on the pacing bird. He appeared to be thinking about something. Then he said out loud to Zax, "Cloud is working with me on a classified mission about summon materia. That was why I considered him a better candidate than anyone in the Materia Department." He looked at Zax, and could see that the other SOLDIER was still doubtful. "Who do you trust more - Cloud, or the staff from the Materia Department?"

The SOLDIER was completely taken aback by Sephiroth's question. But he and Sephiroth both knew what his answer to that question was. "You're right..." Zax relaxed, and there was no longer suspicion in his demeanour. "I do trust Cloud," he said, "but more than that, I trust you too, Sephiroth. If this is what you believe is for the best, then I'll back you up on it," he finished with a wide grin and a punch on his chest.

"Thank you," Sephiroth said sincerely. "Right now, I need you to find Tseng and let him know that the problem has been solved. Do whatever you can to stop him from reporting to this to the President. This must never reach the ears of the Science Department," he warned, and Zax nodded. He understood the implications behind Sephiroth's words. "I'm counting on you, Zax."

"No problem," Zax grinned again, already turning to exit the office. "See you later, Cloud!" His shout made Cloud look up, just in time to see Zax disappearing towards the direction of the elevator with a hearty wave. "Don't think I'm not gonna squeeze every last drop of information I can out from you about this 'mission' of yours, and how come I never knew you were such a materia whiz!" Were Zax's last words before the sound of the elevator door clamping shut told Cloud that his friend was no longer within hearing range.

Cloud sighed. Whether it was a sigh of relief or anguish, he himself had no idea. He leaned against a nearby wall and stared at his feet, suddenly deflated and tired. It was not until he saw a pair of black boots in front of him that he forced himself to lift his head up again.

Up ahead, Sephiroth had opened his mouth to say something, but what Cloud heard was a series of buzzes and subdued gurgles - as if someone had covered his ears with thick glass cups. His vision started to turn fuzzy, his eyelids growing heavier and heavier by the second; until he could no longer see anything but darkness. He wanted to reply Sephiroth, but his body had other plans for him, so he did as he was told.

He fainted.  
****

x--x--x--x--x--x--x--x--x--x--x  
25 jan 2009

i don't know why i'm having so much fun with this fic. XD

Genesis Awards are back, so please visit their new site and nominate all your favourite FFVII fics!  
genesisawardsDOTnet  
i've also linked to the site/forums in my homepage (accessible in my profile) for convenience sake.

nominate away!  



	11. Chapter Eleven

**Standard disclaimers apply.**

**x--x--x--x--x--x--x--x--x--x--x**  
**WHEN YOU WISH UPON A MATERIA**  
**x--x--x--x--x--x--x--x--x--x--x**  
**CHAPTER ELEVEN**

Two people were having a conversation over tea in a field of mushrooms and strawberries.

"It is not my place to answer that question," Vincent was saying, as he took a sip of his Earl Gray and dipped a scone in honey. A red parrot flew by and disturbed his hair. "Perhaps you should ask him again at another convenient time."

The parrot landed on Sephiroth's shoulder. The man was stirring his green tea with one hand and rolling a sushi with the other. Somewhere near his left ear, an eel swam by. "I will do just that. Thank you for availing all this information to me."

The entire scene was beyond Cloud's ability to handle logic. He turned and fled the other way. There were a lot of bubbles as he ran.

He rolled off the bed and onto the cold, hard metal flooring of the room.

There was a loud crash which Cloud did not notice. All the noise he was aware of was the ringing in his ears that sounded like a thousand toiling bells. He muttered under his breath and quickly sat up. White dots obscured his vision for a while, but they soon passed. He saw that he was in a fairly large but simple room. The metallic walls and long glass windows overlooking a city with the colour of ghoulish green told him he was still somewhere in the Shinra Building. He let out the breath he had not known he was holding.

Only to breath sharply in again when he heard a voice from behind him.

"It's about time you woke up." This was undoubtedly Sephiroth's voice. "I'm just about running out of excuses to give your sergeants."

Leviathan was curled up somewhere at the corner of the bed Cloud had just fallen out from. From the corner of his eyes, Cloud glanced at the tall, imposing figure of General Sephiroth, who was staring down at him with arms folded across his chest. A soft chirp attracted Cloud's attention, and he noticed that Phoenix was there as well, resting at the foot of the bed. He spared the bird a look, before turning around to face Sephiroth, straining his neck to look up at the taller man who appeared even taller now that Cloud was sitting on the floor.

The field of mushrooms and strawberries reentered his mind, and Cloud could feel colour draining from his face at the image.

"You passed out at the Director's office. I had to carry you here. You've been out for two days, and your cadet friends are starting to get a little suspicious. Now that you're finally awake, however, you should return to your squadron for a while, just to show your face. You'll be accompanying me on a new mission after that."

Cloud's face was blank, but he gaped after a while. "What... how... I... who... what... huh?" He managed, after a while. Vincent snickered in his head, and he realised with a jolt that he had forgotten about their telepathic link.

'Slowly, Cloud,' Vincent suggested gently. 'One thing at a time.'

"Right," the confused blond muttered under his breath, clambering to his feet at the same time. He faced Sephiroth once more and took a longer look. The General was standing at a doorway of sorts. Evidently that was the entrance and exit of the room, for the only other door led to what Cloud could see was a bathroom. Glancing elsewhere, he took stock of the other parts of the room.

Besides the bed which was in the middle, pushed against a wall, there were also furniture like tables and shelves lined up against almost every other wall. The room itself, despite only having one bed, was much larger than his shared bunk. Most probably an executive room of the Building. It looked like the owner of the room had customised it for ease of work rather than recreation. And he had a sinking feeling he knew who the owner was.

Sephiroth preempted Cloud's question by saying, "In case you're wondering, this is a room in my allocated apartment in the Shinra Building."

"Yeah, I thought so," Cloud groaned. "What am I doing here?"

"To be honest, I tried to bring you to the infirmary," Sephiroth explained. "But your pet bird was terrorising practically every moving thing we passed by on the way. Unlike Leviathan, I believe the bird can still be seen by normal people. I'd sent Zax to placate Shinra and convince him that there was no dangerous, fire-breathing bird in the house, so it was only right that I did not compound the problem by parading the very bird around in open view. That meant the infirmary was out. And that's why you're here now."

"Oh," Cloud blinked. That actually made sense. He turned around and stared at Phoenix, who stared back. "Can you do the same thing Leviathan's doing? Keeping out of sight with certain conditions and such?"

Phoenix chirped something which sounded positive. But nothing else happened that could be observed.

"What's this about a mission, though?" Cloud's attention was back on Sephiroth quickly enough. "And for goodness sake... I hope you didn't tell my bunkmates and sergeants anything funny!" It took all his self-control to resist reaching up and pulling at his hair in agony.

"Don't worry, I told them it was classified," Sephiroth reassured.

The blond thought about that for a while. Then he gasped, "You told them personally?!"

Sephiroth blinked. "Should I have sent a moogle?"

Cloud was so disturbed by the reactions he was sure he would face when he returned to his squad, that his mind now completely shut down and went blissfully blank. "Maybe you should have..."

Vincent's mental pat of consolation only made things worse.

"In any case, Vincent has provided me with much information about your actual purpose in the military and why you seem to have such affinity with the summons," Sephiroth continued, seemingly oblivious to Cloud's inner turmoil. His words, however, jolted Cloud with surprise. The blond snapped to attention. "Although I sympathise with your history, I'm afraid I have to agree with Vincent. What's done cannot be undone, so you'll just have to keep going."

There was meaningful tone to Sephiroth's words that Cloud was absolutely not getting at all. "All right..." he conceded for now, slightly thankful that the man was not about to try to put him in a spot again. Nevertheless, he made up his mind to ask Vincent what was going on, later. "So what mission were you talking about just now?" He decided to go back to a safer topic.

The General looked to a side and sighed. "We are going to Modeoheim. The apparatus that Hollander had been using have been pillaged. We are to spend a day investigating before returning to headquarters to recommend a course of action," was Sephiroth's brief explanation.

Cloud thought about it. "Why don't you ask Zax along instead?" Vague, blurry memories of his true past during the Shinra military were resurfacing. He recalled that Zax had gone to Modeoheim for a mission before at one point of time. And it was a very important mission, at that. He could not remember what it was, but he had the impression that it changed his friend's life. "I think he would know it better than I do, having gone there before."

There was a long silence, in which Sephiroth stared at Cloud strangely. "I'm sure you are aware of his reservations about that place," the man eventually said. "That was where Angeal died, after all," he unfolded his arms and turned around. "Get yourself ready. I'll meet you at the helicopter strip at 1200 hours," were his final, parting words.

Cloud waited until he could no longer hear the General's footsteps or sense him anywhere nearby, before activating the pendant materia and projecting Vincent onto the nearest wall. When he saw the familiar facade, he retreated a few steps, the back of his knees eventually bumping into the bed he had fallen from. He sat down dramatically on the sheets and sighed. "Tell me what you told him," he demanded.

"Certainly. I told him we were part of a dark, magical and reclusive clan inhabiting a secluded island northeast of Midgar. You were abandoned near a Mako pool when you were born because your parents feared the stigma of having given birth to a child with the colours of light amongst a race of darkness. When we finally discovered you seven years later, you were already a young boy who had somehow survived by yourself in an area with no food and water; and exposed to so much Mako that you were practically glowing from within.

"The chieftains tried to find out how you had supposedly done such a thing with no apparent help - to no avail. Needless to say you were put through a series of impersonal experiments that no child your age should have to. As one of the staff tasked with finding out the secret of your survival, I eventually came to realise the atrocities I was perpetrating and put my foot down by officially taking you into my custody, and then breaking free from the tribe I had known all my life. We were exiled and settled down in the quiet village of Nibelheim, where we have been ever since.

"However, as you grew, learned, and adapted, you started to long for your heritage. Your memory of the past was patchy and you wanted to see your people again at least one more time. It was not as if they were really trying to destroy your life. They just took their curious-seeking a little further than they should have. I then contacted the clan, who said they would allow the boy to step foot on the motherland he had disavowed if he could prove his physical and mental strength by entering the Shinra military and making it to 1st class SOLDIER.

"Now here's where it gets interesting. The chieftains must have thought they had given you an impossible task, for our clan had little to no physical duress. And, though a magical race, our compatibility with materia was passable at best. Unknown to the chieftains, however, you have a special affinity with summon creatures - having spent all your founding years basking in the Mako that connects to them. In fact, the summons had been taking care of you after you were abandoned. That was why you had survived.

"Because of your abnormal upbringing, you had abilities that easily resembled that of the current SOLDIERs. For example, glowing eyes and a summon tagalong that boosted your basic stats. We took pains to cover that up before sending you to Shinra. But alas, you somehow managed to catch the attention of the General himself. In a desperate attempt to appear normal, you played along when he misunderstood you to be a SOLDIER when you were actually not. But I decided enough was enough, and told him about your woeful past in order to bring you some respite from all the play-acting. Now... wasn't that a beautiful story that completely covered all your suspicious activities that Sephiroth had been observing and quietly filing away?"

"...Vincent. My head hurts," Cloud complained. "And that sounded like an unnecessarily long summary for a bad AU fic." The headache was not going away. "And did you really tell him all that...?!"

"Of course, my tone was much more convincing, my demeanour much more serious, and my choice of words much more eloquent. I couldn't very well have told him that you actually came from the future now, could I?"

"But you! And me! A dark, magical and reclusive clan! What...??"

Vincent did not seem concerned. "There is a high chance that he believes the tale," he said, "but we may never be able to know for sure. Nevertheless, you now have a reason to act skittish around him and basically everybody else. Your inability to recall specific details about your past is also well covered. For the sake of your sanity, Cloud, just play along with me until something happens to suggest that he suspects otherwise, all right?"

Cloud slumped further into himself. He knew Vincent was trying to help him, and he was grateful that the man had cooked up a tall story instead of telling Sephiroth the truth. Though, he was not sure which one was more believable at this point of time. Sephiroth had not seemed belligerent before he walked out of the room, however, and that was as good a sign as they could get for now. "So why does he want me to go with him on a mission now that he's aware I'm not really a SOLDIER?"

"I don't know, Cloud," Vincent shrugged. "He did mention Zax was unavailable. Perhaps he had no one else to ask?"

That seemed unlikely to Cloud. He pinched the bridge of his nose and tried to rack his brains for an answer. "I think he's probably still suspicious," he eventually mumbled.

"Tread carefully around him, Cloud, but otherwise, just let him be," said Vincent. "Remember what I told you about playing along with my story?"

"Yes... yes... all right, I will," Cloud pushed himself off the bed and stretched. "Thanks for the support, Vincent. So, he knows that I'm a cadet now, right? Just a little special because of my... 'strange' upbringing?"

"That ought to be the case."

"Did he ever ask why we could communicate in our minds?"

"Yes. I wrote it off as a special ability of our 'magical clan'."

"In that case, how did you explain why Sephiroth could hear us too?"

"I told that his magical signature was similar to yours. Which is a verifiable truth."

"You are so good at this," Cloud just had to comment.

"I was a Turk," Vincent deadpanned in reply. "More importantly, we discovered that the communication link doesn't break even when you fall unconscious, which was why I could speak with Sephiroth via the link. It is an interesting discovery. If we could expand on that and somehow find a way to cast spells that can last even after the caster is knocked out, then protective spells like Barrier and..."

"Okay, thanks, I gotta go grab my stuff, I think I've had enough of mushrooms and strawberries for today. Talk in my head another day, okay?" Cloud grabbed the pendant and terminated the spell without waiting for Vincent to reply. Once the usually quiet man got started on his thesis reports, there was no stopping him, and the last thing Cloud needed now was a dull monotone of materia-science theories droning away at the back of his mind.

The blond took one last sweeping glance around the room. It was neat and clean from underuse, and there was nothing fancy or ornamental. He wondered how often Sephiroth invited his friends over for parties - if at all. Shaking that stray thought out of his head, he proceeded to exit the room. Leviathan and Phoenix both took to the air and followed him by flanking each of his sides.

Immediately outside was a corridor which led to a large living room. The room Cloud had been in was at the end of the path, and there were two other rooms along the same hallway. He walked past the two closed rooms, curious about them but not curious enough to risk his life by poking around what could very well be Sephiroth's private quarters. There was a clock hanging on one of the walls of the living room, which told Cloud it was already eleven in the morning. He had an hour to 'show his face' at his squadron, like Sephiroth had suggested, and get ready to meet the SOLDIER for the Modeoheim mission. He sighed.

As he made his way down to the bunks in the elevator with his two surprisingly obedient summons (he was dreading having to mediate between the two if they were to get into a hissy fit with each other again), he pondered his options. He was not sure what to expect from his squadmates and bunkmates, now that there was irrefutable proof he was somehow linked to Sephiroth. Yet if he did not sound them out, younger Cloud was going to have difficulties when he eventually came back. Of course, the biggest problem at hand was Sephiroth, who now thought he was some strange creature with an agenda of sorts. Then there was Zax. Oh yes, there was Zax.

Just as Cloud thought his head was literally going to blow up, Vincent's wise words came back to him.

'One thing at a time,' Cloud repeated to himself. 'One thing at a time.'

The elevator stopped at the storey where his bunk was located, and he stepped out, not surprised to sense nobody around. At this time of the morning, all the infantrymen were supposed to be doing their morning drills. He found his bunk and went in, the lights automatically switching on when his presence was felt. He was just going to grab his standard issue pack and rifle, clean himself up (two days was a long time to go without a shower, after all), and then head down to where the squadron was doing their drills. Approaching his assigned bed, however, he saw that there was a sheet of paper on top of his made bed.

He frowned and picked the sheet up. There was handwriting on it.

'Hey Cloud! Sorry about the whole Sephiroth thing! You should've just told us it was sensitive stuff! We wouldn't have probed, you know! Thanks to you, the entire squadron got a long, drawn-out lecture from the sarg about the military definition of 'Classified' and what responsible military men not in the know ought to do when dealing with such matters. But hey, at least we got to see Sephiroth torch down the sarg's high horse before that! In any case, we swear we won't ever broach the subject with you again. Ever! So just go out there and get them for us, whatever they may be!'

The hastily scrawled letter actually put a small smile on Cloud's face. He remembered how awkward his bunkmates were when trying to show concern for him, and the letter must have taken some courage to write. Being overwhelmed by his own problems had blinded him from the current reality. Young Cloud and his bunkmates were - when all was said and done, mere teenagers who were socially inept and bad at expressing their worry for another in an environment that promoted competition above everything else. The fact that they had even tried spoke volumes, and Cloud appreciated it with warmth in his heart.

He looked around for a pen, and found one by the table nearest to his bed. Picking it up, he scribbled a big, messy 'THANK YOU' on the empty space beneath his bunkmates' message.

Cloud may not remember much about his time as a Shinra grunt, but he had a feeling it was not as horrible as his imagination wanted him to believe.

When he came out from the washroom after a quick shower, Leviathan and Phoenix were glaring at each other, hissing and snapping away. They stayed clear from each other, true, but the antagonism was frankly getting on Cloud's nerves. He wanted to find out more about Phoenix' presence, but seeing that the creature could not speak human language, he was at a loss at where to start. He gave the two summons a stern warning again, and they shrank away each from the other in contrition.

The materia pendant glowed. Cloud activated the second level of the spell to allow Vincent to speak with him in his head.

'I have a suggestion,' Vincent said immediately upon connecting to Cloud's mind.

Cloud strapped his pack onto himself, took his rifle, and exited the bunk. 'About what?' He then asked.

'Give Phoenix to Sephiroth.'

'Sure,' the blond said absent-mindedly as he trudged down the corridor towards the elevator. Then he stopped. "WHAT??!"

'Keep walking. You don't want to be late. And don't sound so surprised. You and I both know that your summons can feed on Sephiroth's MP like they can yours.'

'Yes...' Cloud admitted readily, restarting his trek towards the elevator. 'But still!'

'You fainted two days ago not because you did not have enough MP to maintain the two summons, but because your mind was unprepared for the sudden outflow of MP when Phoenix began to channel your energy for its spells. Your consciousness has since adjusted itself to accomodate both Leviathan's and Phoenix' energy requirements, but have you noticed the pattern? You keep fainting whenever the summons use energy for spells that you were not expecting them to use. And they keep using spells you don't expect them to use.'

Cloud ran through the events of the past few days, and found that he had to agree with Vincent. 'What difference does is make for me to have one or two summons on my back, then? I'm going to faint either ways, right?'

'Not really, Cloud. Remember I said that your consciousness is now able to accomodate maintaining two summons? Giving one summon away will not make it readjust itself. That will essentially give you an energy buffer of sorts, in which Leviathan will be able to cast an unexpected spell or two without knocking you out.'

Cloud entered the elevator and pressed the floor where the parade square was. 'Okay... you do have a point. So how do I convince Phoenix to leave me, and how do I convince Sephiroth to take it?'

'You'll find a way,' Vincent said pleasantly.

The elevator doors slid open just as Cloud was about to make a witty comeback, shutting his mental mouth up and exposing him to the entire floor of the parade square. All the infantrymen were there in their full uniforms, going through their drills. That the elevator doors had opened did not escape the notice of some of the people.

Cloud ignored the curious glances he was getting, and strode purposefully towards the sergeant in charge. The sergeant turned around and noticed him. He made his own movements to walk towards the blond.

"Strife!" The sergeant boomed, and Cloud straightened himself on the spot. He kept his glance carefully on a spot just above the sergeant's shoulder. The man opened his mouth to say something - most probably an insult, or a barb, or something of a negative nature, but reined his tongue in at the last moment. Instead he shoved a sealed envelope towards Cloud, and settled for, "Do your best for that mission of yours and make your squad proud!"

Again, Cloud straightened himself, this time more confidently. "Sir!" He acknowledged, as he grabbed the envelope firmly. He wondered what Sephiroth told his sergeant to make the man so pliant. Nevertheless, now that he had dutifully 'shown his face', he supposed it was time to go meet the General for the mysterious Modeoheim mission.

He quickly turned and ran towards the elevator, not once looking back. He could hear the sergeant barking at the murmuring squad, asking them to get back to whatever they were doing.

Then the elevator doors slid shut, and he could hear them no more.

The seal on the envelope was from Lazard's office, which meant that it was from Sephiroth. Cloud tore it apart. Inside, there was nothing except a keycard. Cloud stared at the card for a while, before taking it out and sliding it across the scanner in the elevator.

The elevator beeped and automatically made its way for the floor with the helicopter strip.

'I completely forgot that I needed a keycard to get there,' Cloud did a mental blink.

'Good thing for you Sephiroth is a meticulous man.'

Cloud wanted to retort, but something else popped up in his mind. 'Oh, hey. Nobody in the parade square appear to have seen Phoenix!'

Phoenix cooed. It was currently standing somewhere near Cloud's left foot. Its fiery tail was pressed so flush against the glass of the elevator, Cloud was surprised the glass was not melting away yet.

'Your instructions to it must have worked, then,' Vincent replied. The elevator made a soft chime and the doors slid open yet again.

'Well, I haven't seen this place intact for a while,' Cloud mused as he stepped out into the open. The last time he saw it was when they were scouting the Midgar ruins for anything to help with their rebuilding work. At least, that was what he could remember. There was a helicopter in the area, but no Sephiroth. Cloud figured he was probably early, so he went to lean against a railing. From his position, he could see Midgar above the plates. Out of impulse, he took a deep breath, only to choke. 'The air is horrible even at this altitude,' he sighed.

'It will be better at Modeoheim,' Vincent consoled the boy. 'They have a Mako excavation site there, but plans to utilise it were aborted at the last minute. It must have been a while since any humans stepped foot there. You can rest assured that the air is clean, if a little chilly.'

'I don't remember a Modeoheim,' Cloud frowned. 'Where was it located?'

'It is an abandoned village located somewhere in the Icicle Area. You may have run a delivery service before at some point in your life, but I am quite certain nobody sends stuff to empty villages.'

Cloud snorted. 'Vincent, you will be surprised. I've been asked to deliver live cows to graveyards before. And that wasn't even the most bizarre by any count.'

There was silence in which Cloud was sure Vincent was lifting his eyebrows. 'Really, now? I haven't heard about that one before. You must tell me more about it some time.'

Leviathan suddenly sprang up from Cloud's shoulder. It was in alert-mode, but not howling hysterically. And Cloud knew what that meant. He turned around from staring at Midgar City to see the approaching form of Sephiroth. Behind him was a man in black suit.

Cloud tried to repress his horror when he saw that it was Tseng.

"Before we go, I need to brief you on the mission," Sephiroth said without preamble. He was holding onto a folder of sorts, and he flipped through the papers that were clipped there. "We are going to Modeoheim to investigate the reports of suspicious activity at the Mako excavation site. After ascertaining the actual status of the claims, Tseng will the one deciding on our next course of action. If there are no complications, the mission shouldn't take more than one to two days, travelling time included. I have already registered this on your cadet mission schedule." Finishing his piece, Sephiroth lowered the folder and gave Tseng a square look.

"Usually, a proper investigation mission includes at least one SOLDIER and two infantrymen, but due to the classified nature of this particular mission, the brass wanted to do away with the infantrymen. They only relented when Sephiroth himself requested for you, so be sure to do a good job. This will reflect well on your progress up the ranks," Tseng stated in his usual no-nonsense tone of voice. Once the official stuff was over, however, he tilted his head to a side. "Cloud, wasn't it?" He asked, making Cloud's eyes widen comically. "You were of great help to Zax in the previous mission there, so I wasn't surprised to see you being enlisted for this one. In fact, I would have requested for you myself. Every mission beefs up an infantryman's assessment, and it would be a waste to let this mission go unaided by someone who is qualified and most definitely deserves the score." The Turk gave Cloud a small smile.

"You know each other?" Apparently, Sephiroth was surprised as well.

"He was one of the infantrymen who accompanied Zax on the last mission to Modeoheim," Tseng answered. "His quick thinking was of invaluable help."

Sephiroth gave the frozen Cloud a sidelong glance. "I see," he simply stated after the pause. "Tseng, go start the helicopter up first. I need to speak with Cloud about something in private."

The Turk simply nodded, and he was heading for the helicopter in no time. Sephiroth watched him until he was far away enough. Then he turned to look at Cloud. "So you've been to Modeoheim before?"

Cloud kept his thoughts and emotions calmly reined in, so that Sephiroth would not sense anything awry. "Yes," he said, when in actual fact he was not really sure. But if Tseng had said so, then it was most probably true.

"Why did you want me to ask Zax along instead this morning then? As if he would be the better choice due to his having gone on a mission there before when you have, as well?" The General narrowed his eyes.

The blond had to hammer his immediate reply of 'because I don't remember' back into the dark recesses of his mind. Once it surfaced to the top of his head, Sephiroth would be able to read it. He said, "Zax is more experienced, sir. His analytical abilities surely outweight mine, even if we HAVE gone on the same mission. I figured he would be of more help..." He shifted his weight awkwardly. "After all, I'm not a SOLDIER..."

The wistful regret in Cloud's voice was genuine. Sephiroth visibly relaxed, and he backpedalled hastily by saying, "I don't mean to suspect you, but this mission is critical and I need to know that I can absolutely trust you. I apologise if I have offended you."

Cloud blinked and quickly shook his head. "Don't! It's not your fault that I... err... stand out somehow. I..." he sighed and looked away. "...I'm trying not to. S'not working very well, though."

"Well, I will try to assist you to the best of my abilities," there was an amused twinkle in Sephiroth's eye. He then turned to look at the orange bird that was sitting comfortable on the floor. "Tseng did not seem to have noticed the bird," he observed.

"Neither did anybody in the parade square," Cloud said, and he, too, turned to look at the bird. The bird glanced up at the two humans with large, inquiring eyes. "Speaking of which, could you help me take care of it for a while?" Cloud asked, remembering what Vincent had suggested as a solution to his summons problem.

Sephiroth raised an eyebrow in surprise. "What do you mean?"

"Well, err... I'm not strong enough to maintain two summons without fainting every now and then from MP overuse," he said. "And since our magical signatures are similar, that means you can help me maintain one of the summons. I'll be more useful in this mission if I don't faint every other hour, don't you think?" He managed a tiny, uneasy smile.

The General considered it for a second. "Yes, I do agree," he said, surprising Cloud. "But wouldn't it be easier if you just asked one of them to go back to the Dirac Sea?"

"I want to," Cloud looked at the two creatures, "but THEY don't want to return. Remember that thing Odin mentioned about granting wishes? Seems like they haven't finished what I supposedly called them out for, so they don't want to go back yet..."

Sephiroth actually laughed slightly. "Yes, I do remember about that. Well, I don't mind helping out. I'm sure it would be an interesting experience which I can learn from. However, your pets are very attached to you. I do not see how you can convince one of them to come along with me, at any rate."

'Why don't you try asking?' Vincent's voice came into the discussion for the first time since Sephiroth's entrance. 'It won't hurt.'

"Hello, Mr. Valentine," Sephiroth greeted. "I didn't know you were there."

'I love to fuss over my son, General Sephiroth,' Vincent replied smoothly.

Cloud wanted to either burst out laughing, or hit his head repeatedly against the nearest wall, for strawberries and mushrooms had taken over his mind again. Deciding he needed to interrupt the duo before they conversed further, he turned towards Phoenix. "Phoenix, I know you're with me and all that, but I need you to do me a big favour now by switching your allegiance to Sephiroth temporarily. Please."

Phoenix gave Cloud a long, hard stare. Then it stood up and waddled over to Sephiroth. It sang a beautiful song, but nobody knew what it was trying to say, after which it took to the air with a big flap of its wings and circled Sephiroth. Cloud could literally see tendrils of raw energy evaporating from Sephiroth and streaming towards the circling bird. A few more circles later, Phoenix stopped and descended, landing on the floor near Sephiroth. It trilled.

Cloud and Sephiroth looked at each other in confusion. "So does this mean Phoenix is with me now?" Sephiroth asked.

"I don't know, I can't speak Bird," Cloud admitted. "But I guess we'll find out along the way to Modeoheim?"

Sephiroth looked at the bird who stood next to him. The bird looked up at him and cooed. "I do feel something weighing on my subconsciousness. This may take some time getting used to. In any case, we had better join Tseng," he gestured towards the helicopter, whose blades had been rotating in standby since Tseng boarded it.

"Thanks for agreeing to help with Phoenix," Cloud said with earnest sincerity.

Sephiroth smiled. And it was a warm, gentle smile. "You can buy me coffee in the canteen when we return," he offered. Then he turned and was walking towards the helicopter. "Let's go," he commanded.

"Yes, sir!" Was Cloud's hearty reply, and he chased after the General with a smile of his own on his face.

**x--x--x--x--x--x--x--x--x--x--x**  
**18apr2009**

**cloud is starting to grow attached to the past, ignoring all the danger signs blaring in his head. be careful, cloud!!! oh, who am i kidding. go for it, cloud!!!**


	12. Chapter Twelve

**Standard disclaimers apply.**

**x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x**  
**WHEN YOU WISH UPON A MATERIA**  
**x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x**  
**CHAPTER TWELVE**

* * *

To the innocent bystander - that is to say, the pilot Tseng - the back of the helicopter was calm and serene.

To the people in the know - that is to say, Cloud, Sephiroth, and Vincent - it was anything but calm and serene.

Sephiroth and Vincent were, to Cloud's utmost chagrin, discussing philosophy.

Or something deep, convoluted, and confusing like that.

In his head.

After enduring the stream of what sounded like nonsensical blabbering for almost half the trip, Cloud finally found the courage to murmur, 'I'd appreciate it if you guys could stop using my head as some kind of convenient, free-for-all communication device to speak to each other. Poor infantryman trying to concentrate on curbing his nonexistent symptoms of motion-sickness here.'

While Sephiroth shot Cloud a most curious glance, Vincent merely chuckled.

'I mean, seriously,' Cloud continued to think, feeling immensely offended all of a sudden. 'It's nice that you guys seem to have found kindred spirits in each other and whatever, but is it too much for me to be asking for a bit of privacy in my head?'

'I don't know, Cloud... How do I turn this thing off, short of having to walk far away enough?' Sephiroth's amused voice boomed through the communication link.

Cloud was stunned into mind-silence by the question. He turned his mind-head towards Vincent. 'I've never thought about it that way before,' he admitted. 'But he's right. How CAN he turn it off, if he doesn't want to, err, use it?'

The brooding silence that next occurred was the sound of Vincent thinking. Finally, Vincent intoned in a voice so serious Cloud had to consciously stop himself from bursting out laughing, 'I will need to tell you more about how the people in our /clan/ control things like this, Cloud. But to cut a long story short, it has to do with your abysmally bad control on your atrociously massive MP.' The man finished, making Cloud flush with embarrassment and frustration.

'Do you mean to say, once Cloud is able to better control the unnecessary outflow of his MP, he will also be able to shut me out of this communication link whenever he wants to?' Sephiroth asked with interest.

'Ah, yes, that's one way of looking at it,' Cloud could feel Vincent mind-nodding away in his head. 'On the other hand, it also means that if Cloud can get his act together on his MP, he may even be able to stretch it out so thin that he is able to communicate with anyone with a similar mental signature anywhere in the world whenever he feels like it. Convenient, isn't it?'

Cloud resisted the urge to roll his eyes. 'Yes, except it's not every day I bump into people who have a similar mental signature.'

'Indeed I am aware of that,' Vincent replied, 'but do not forget that if you are better able to control your MP, you may be able to send Leviathan back to its dimension as well. Something you've been trying to do to no avail for quite a while now, am I right?'

Cloud put his head in his hands and groaned unhappily. 'Please don't remind me.'

Leviathan would have hooted or hissed if it was in the helicopter - but it was not. After they had boarded the craft, Cloud all but tossed the two summons out of the compartment, instructing them to follow along outside if they really wanted to - they could fly, could they not? Although woefully unhappy, the two summons complied anyway. Currently, they were flanking the aircraft on each side, keeping up with their master(s) by gliding and flying through the air gracefully. If Cloud was not so distracted with his current predicament, he would have been mesmerised beyond belief whenever he glanced out of the window. Now, however, all he could do was sigh in resignation at the sight.

'MP control is not as hard as you're making it out to be,' Sephiroth's voice made Cloud look towards him in attention. 'The textbooks all say it's a simply matter of mental strength, and they're mostly right. What I've realised from experience, however, is that concentration plays a key role as well. What do you remember about the imagery classes you took during your first few casting lessons?'

Cloud blinked. 'To be honest? Nothing much. That was such a /long/ time ago,' he resisted the urge to roll his eyes at the chortling Vincent Voice in his head. 'I think it was something about focusing on the elements we were casting? Since that was all they would give us to try. Something like... we had to equip a fire materia and imagine our target being set on fire...?'

The General nodded. 'Although we do not always have to do that every time we cast something, the fact of the matter is, we need to at least have the target fixed firmly in mind. The main objective of imagery training for casting classes was to achieve that. Without a target in mind, the materia has a high chance of backfiring on the caster, since it's not being consciously channelled anywhere. Now, here is where it gets slightly more complicated. With only the target in mind, the materia draws upon as much MP from the caster as possible to carry out the deed. The higher the spell level, the more MP the materia drains. That means whether you're setting a peanut or a dragon on fire with a spell of the same level, you're using the same amount of MP. Not exactly very efficient, right?'

'I hadn't thought of it in that way before,' Vincent interrupted, and there was a hint of glee in his tone which indicated that his mad scientist side was showing up. 'Do you mean to say, it is actually possible to control the amount of MP the materia sucks from its caster? Is it not naturally predefined?'

Sephiroth appeared to consider it for a short while. 'It IS naturally predefined. But with insufficient focus, the materia will merely draw the highest amount necessary, in case it does not have enough to fulfill its task. What I have discovered in my personal experience is that if you are able to concentrate enough to communicate the size of your target to the materia, the amount of MP it draws becomes drastically reduced. It may not seem to be much, but it was something I grew to appreciate during the war.' He paused. 'In any case, my point is that concentration is important in MP control. You have to have a clear focus on what you intend to achieve with all that mental energy.'

'What I intend to achieve with my mental energy...?' Cloud frowned to himself. It never occurred to him that this was something that would merit consideration.

'They say that the manner of a person's power is a reflection of his mind,' Sephiroth mustered up a wry smile. 'Is the aimless nature of your energy perhaps an indication of something that only you can resolve, Cloud? If you can find the answer, then having better control is probably not as far off as it may seem now.'

Cloud stared at Sephiroth.

"Sephiroth, we're nearly at the destination," Tseng's voice interrupted the staring competition at the back of the helicopter. "We should arrive in around five more minutes."

"Great," Sephiroth roused himself from his seated position and strode towards the pilot's cabin. "Do you have a recent topography map of the place? I'd like to take a look before we land."

Cloud watched the other man semi-disappear into the cockpit. 'Wait, did you just call me an aimless dreamer in that sarcastic, roundabout way of yours?' He could not help but blurt out in his head. And although Sephiroth was well within telepathy range, the man made no indication to show that he had heard Cloud's complaint.

'Why,' Vincent, however, was more than happy to oblige Cloud with a reply. 'I do believe he just did.'

'...that was rhetorical,' was all Cloud could mumble before the helicopter lurched and started its descent. Out loud, he asked, "Sorry, but am I allowed to have more information about the mission? What kind of suspicious activities are we talking about here?" He almost gulped when Tseng gave him a sidelong glance that bordered on calculating. "I think may be of more use if I knew what to expect, but if it's classified, then pretend I didn't ask!" Silence. "Sir!" Cloud added as an afterthought.

"It IS classified," Sephiroth answered, his eyes never leaving off the topography map he was holding in his hands. 'But I'm going to tell you anyway,' he informed via their telepathic link, and there was a hint of glee in his tone. 'Later, when Tseng goes on his rounds, of course.'

Cloud had to stifle a groan. 'Now I don't know if I want to be told.'

"Do you remember the man with the red coat we were pursuing in the previous mission?" Tseng spoke up suddenly, catching both Cloud and Sephiroth by surprise.

"Uhm," Cloud tried to remember. "I... can't say I do. I was... busy with something else," he wanted to give himself a smack on the forehead, but it was the best he could do in the circumstances.

Thankfully for him, Tseng merely nodded. "Hollander was being quite troublesome back then, yes," he murmured. "That man was actually the MIA General Genesis. Although we believed he fell to his death at Modeoheim previously, I've been receiving reports that someone of his likeness has been spotted in Modeoheim. We are there to ascertain that under the guise of investigating the excavation site, so you will do well to be on the alert for suspicious activities of that kind."

Cloud tried his best not to gape. He was not even sure if he had ever heard of this Genesis guy before. "Right," he answered anyway, "I will do just that, sir."

"Tseng..." Sephiroth frowned at the Turk. Tseng interpreted the displeasure in the General's tone as an indication that he was annoyed about the leak of classified information, when in actual fact, he was just merely unhappy Tseng told Cloud about the mission before he could. He had been looking forward to that!

"I feel that sharing this information will aid us in the mission more than if we withhold it," Tseng was explaining. "Since you have requested for Cloud's presence, I am confident that you feel the same way as well."

Silent for a while, Sephiroth then simply nodded and returned to the map he had been investigating. "Be sure to treat that information as classified, cadet," he said.

"Of course, sir," Cloud saluted smartly.

'And I give you my word that I will, too,' Vincent said solemnly from the other side.

'Vincent,' Cloud thought in exasperation. 'You don't matter in this entire mission at all, so stop interrupting us!'

'You never know, Cloud, when you may need my expertise,' Vincent returned. 'Especially since you're stuck with a rifle now.'

'Don't remind me!' Cloud tried to shape his thoughts into the buster sword being flung at light speed, but Vincent's chortle told him that it had not worked. Sephiroth had looked up by now, in Cloud's general direction, and it seemed like he was going to add something to the discussion as well, when Tseng's sudden announcement cut all potential conversation short.

"Prepare for touch down!"

xxooxx

There was a Shinra outpost somewhere near the site, so the trio set up camp there. After wiring in to Shinra HQ and sending in their report, they gathered at the meeting room of the outpost for a preliminary discussion of their next step.

Cloud had forbidden Leviathan and Phoenix from entering the outpost, so they perched forlornly atop the roof.

"As you can see on this topography map," Tseng gestured at the map spread out on the table, "this area is surrounded by towering mountains on all ends. There is a blizzard every other day here, so any footsteps and other traces of evidence that may be of help to us will have disappeared by now. Our only chance is to investigate the excavation site itself. Specifically, we want to see if these reported suspicious activities has caused any substantial damage to the facilities. I will do a brief check on the site area later to ensure there are no suspicious entities lurking around. Once that is established, we will move in as a unit to investigate the site proper. Are there any questions so far?"

'What if you do find someone suspicious hanging out around the excavation site?' Vincent was asking via his mind-link with Cloud. 'Will the three of you be going in for the kill then?'

'Vincent, he can't hear you,' Cloud complained.

'I know. I just wanted to say that,' the man replied.

"What if you do find someone suspicious hanging out around the excavation site?" Sephiroth's booming voice pulled Cloud back into reality, and he realised that Sephiroth had merely repeated Vincent's question verbatim. 'Well, I was going to ask that myself, anyway,' was the General's amused defense in his head.

For a while, Tseng simply stared at Sephiroth. Then he said, "Depending on who or what the suspicious entity is... we may just have to deal with them according to protocol."

'And that means if it's Genesis or one of his newfangled clones, they won't live to see another day,' Sephiroth helpfully supplied.

Cloud groaned internally. 'I don't need to draw any more attention to myself. Can I just be bait or something?'

"In any case," Tseng spoke up again, when nobody appeared to have something to say to his previous statement, "while I am investigating the site, could you take a look at the terrain around the area to ensure that there are no hideout spots our potential enemies could be using?" He turned towards Sephiroth and asked. "Being that the site is what they appear to be interested in, this could very well be an intelligence crime and nothing else, but we can never be too safe."

"Very well," Sephiroth nodded in agreement.

"As for you, Cloud," Tseng turned to Cloud, "I want you to stay here and keep a lookout on the area. This outpost is situated on highland, so you should be able to have a bird's eye view of the surroundings. I will be issuing each of you a private channel walkie-talkie before setting out. If any of you spot anything suspicious at all, wire in and let us know your coordinates, and we'll take it from there," although he applied the rule to everybody on the scene, it was obvious that he was saying it for Cloud's sake.

'Oh great, he doesn't think I can handle anything that may be out there,' Cloud sighed. 'Nice of him to show his concern in such a roundabout, tactful way, though. Reminds me of you, Vincent.'

'Why, thank you,' the other mercenary said pleasantly. 'But I do not think the walkie-talkie is purely for your safety alone.'

'Yes, I think Tseng just granted your wish,' Sephiroth chimed in. 'He intends to use this outpost as a bait, which is why he needs you to be connected to us at all times.'

Cloud blinked at Sephiroth, more amazed at his deduction than the fact that he was about to be used as bait for real. 'How did you know?'

'Cloud,' Vincent interrupted, ' this is an outpost in the middle of nowhere that has not been used for ages. If there were enemies still around the area, and they've been here for a while, wouldn't they realise by the fact that the building is now lighted, that the outpost has been occupied, and approach this place to investigate the newcomers?' The man explained.

'Oh, right,' the light dawned on Cloud, 'I knew that.'

'Sure you did,' he could almost hear Vincent rolling his eyes.

For his part, Tseng had been busy preparing the walkie-talkies, so he paid no heed to the unusual silence permeating the air at the moment. Once he was done, he passed them out to his companions and instructed, "Check the frequency. I will make my way to the site now and wire in as I walk to ensure that we are connected by the devices. Sephiroth, you can leave whenever you're ready as well," he nodded to the General, who nodded back. Making his way to the door, Tseng opened it and looked over his shoulder. "Let the operation begin!"

And he was gone quickly, the sound of the door closing quietly the last indication of his presence.

Both Sephiroth's and Cloud's walkie-talkies crackled to life a short while later. 'Tseng here. Can you hear me?'

"Loud and clear," Sephiroth replied, holding the device close to his mouth. "I will be setting off after you reach the site, just to ensure that you can reach us while still there."

'Roger that,' Tseng's voice was saying. 'I will be wiring in periodically to the outpost as well, Cloud. Keep up your vigil in the meantime.'

"Yes, sir!" Cloud said into his own walkie-talkie.

'Over and out.' A clicking sound, then a sharp buzz ended the short communication.

As Cloud reflected on the conversation, however, he frowned. Then he turned to Sephiroth and asked, "I understand that we're using a private channel, but why are we not using codenames and stuff?"

The General looked at Cloud with a blank face. Out loud, he said, "That is classified, cadet. Just do as you are instructed." In Cloud's head, however, he explained, 'The private channel is merely Shinra protocol. At this point of time, there is no need to bother with codenames because even if the enemy does manage to hack our communication, that would really be for the best. Modeoheim has been the subject of many investigations that often lead to dead-ends, and I suppose Tseng is probably dying to finally put an end to the manpower drain this place is putting on both his team and the Shinra army. And the best way to do it, since we can't seem to locate the enemy, is to lure them out with an ambush. Purposely broadcasting our presence by occupying the outpost, and communicating without codenames, are both steps that will aid his plan to do so. By the way, try not to speak out too much, because this outpost is, as you probably already know, Shinra-bugged.'

That took a while to sink in, but when it finally did, Cloud was amazed. 'You guys are good at this,' he gaped internally.

'We've been in the business long enough,' Sephiroth merely shrugged.

Their walkie-talkies crackled to life again.

'Tseng here. I'm about halfway down the hill track to the site. How is the quality of my voice on the radio?'

"Still loud and clear," Sephiroth answered.

'All right. I will wire in again once I reach the entrance of the site. Over and out.'

A click and a buzz.

"So that means I should be getting ready to leave as well," Sephiroth tucked the walkie-talkie into one of his coat pockets.

He was about to reach out for his sword, which he had leant vertically against a nearby wall, when the ground shook.

It was not a long quake, just a quick and heavy jolt. But that was enough to cause loose plaster to crumble down from the ceiling of the outpost. Tables and chairs were displaced, along with anything on top of them. Cloud found himself being thrown to the ground with a yelp, as he was not naturally very good with keeping his balance, and even much less so when the ground was shaking.

There was a descending flash of light that was awfully familiar to Cloud, so he reacted as quickly as he could - bringing his hands up to stop whatever had fallen on him. And not a moment too soon, for he found himself holding the thin, lethal blade of the masamune in his hands. Apparently, the sword had fallen in the quake as well, and was just a few inches shy of severing his legs from his body.

"Oh, my goodness," Cloud sighed in relief, lowering the sword until the flat side of the blade was safely on his lap. "That was close!"

Sephiroth had kept his balance all this time, and he peered down at the sprawled Cloud with curiosity in his eyes. Wordlessly, he stretched a hand out to help Cloud back onto his feet.

'You'd better take your sword first,' Cloud said in his mind, 'I don't think it likes me.'

Having said that, the blond lifted the sword by the blade and angled it so that the hilt was pointed at Sephiroth's outstretched hand.

After a short while of more staring by Sephiroth, the man finally wrapped his hand around the hilt of his blade and said through the mind-link, '...Thank you.'

'No problem,' Cloud replied, standing up by himself.

Although Sephiroth proceeded to busy himself with the keeping of his sword on his belt, he still had his thinking face on, with a distant look in his eyes. After the sword was properly sheathed, however, he removed the walkie-talkie from his pocket and pressed the button that would connect him to Tseng. When he got through, he said, "Tseng, we just experienced a minor earthquake in the outpost. What about your side?"

For a few moments, the sound of the cold, northern wind was the only thing they could hear through the speakers of the device. Then Tseng's voice suddenly said, 'No, no quake on my side. I'm nearly at the foot of the hill, though.'

"Then it wasn't a natural quake," Sephiroth concluded, his eyes narrowing. "Keep your eyes open, Tseng. We may be up against something else altogether," was the terse warning.

The wind blew against Tseng's walkie-talkie again. 'Roger that. I've just reached the foot of the hill. How is the quality of the sound?'

"Still crystal clear. I think we can begin our operation proper now."

'All right. Ask Cloud to wire us every half an hour to check on our status. Over and out.'

Sephiroth closed the channel without responding. He turned to Cloud. "You heard the instructions. I will be moving out to examine the terrain now. Contact us every half an hour to get yourself updated. Until then, you are free to get yourself acquainted with the outpost and its immediate vicinity. Is that understood?"

Cloud saluted as smartly as he could. "Yes, sir!"

The General turned and exited the room without a second word. Out loud, that is. 'As I've mentioned, the quake just now was unnatural, so keep a look out for anything that may have caused it.'

'Righto,' Cloud replied. The door to the meeting room was now closed, so he could not see where Sephiroth was. After a while, though, the sound of the man's footsteps began to fade away. Once he could no longer hear them, he turned his attention back to the room.

The maps and other things that had been laid out on the table were in disarray, some having fallen to the ground. Cloud gathered everything up and stowed them away into an empty crate nearby. There were other crates marked as rations, equipment, and etcetera, but Cloud was not sure how good a condition they would be in. Deciding to explore that later, he grabbed his standard issue rifle and went out of the meeting room as well.

Immediately outside was the foyer. The outpost was surprisingly big considering how frugal Shinra could be about their buildings away from Midgar at times. Cloud walked towards the main door and opened it, stepping out. Once he was outside, Leviathan floated down from the roof to greet him, hovering around the blond cautiously. Glancing upwards, Cloud saw that Phoenix was no longer perched on the roof, meaning it had followed Sephiroth. He breathed a sigh of relief at that.

'Okay Leviathan, time for a game of twenty questions,' Cloud spoke to the sea dragon through their link, remembering what Sephiroth had mentioned earlier about the outpost being bugged. 'Hiss once for yes, and twice for no, okay? Did you feel that quake just now?'

Leviathan hissed once.

'Do you know what caused it?'

One hiss.

'Did you SEE what caused it?'

After some hesitation, Leviathan hissed twice. Cloud wondered about the pause, but having no way of getting the summon to explain, he continued his questioning.

'From what you can tell, is this place safe?'

Leviathan hissed once. Then it paused. Then it hissed twice.

Cloud was confused, so it was Vincent to the rescue. 'I think you need to be more specific,' the man was saying. 'Leviathan, are there any other humans besides the three of them in this area, as far as you can tell?

This time, Leviathan hissed twice emphatically.

'What about other creatures?' Vincent continued.

One hiss.

'Are those other creatures dangerous?' Cloud asked.

Leviathan spent a few seconds looking perplexed. It did not answer.

'I don't know what to make of this,' Cloud threw his hands up in resignation. 'So Leviathan cannot sense any humans out there, but creatures? Monsters? And it can't tell if they are dangerous?'

'If I were to venture a guess,' Vincent offered, 'Leviathan probably bases all its estimations around you, the summoner. It cannot tell whether these creatures are dangerous or not because they probably have not exhibited any signs to show that they will attack you at the drop of a hat. However, that does not mean that they will NOT attack you when given the chance or when provoked, so that is probably why Leviathan is confused about how to answer your question.'

'That means what's out there may be just the normal run of the mill monsters, or a newly mutated one, or something else entirely,' Cloud frowned. 'I think Sephiroth was right when he said the quake was not natural. It wasn't even what a quake materia would cause. The snow is making the visibility pretty bad though, so I won't be able to tell unless I can venture out further...'

'Perhaps you should just stick to your commission for now,' Vincent suggested. 'After all, Leviathan cannot detect any human presence nearby, and that should keep you relatively safe for a while.'

'Yeah, I should,' Cloud nodded in agreement. He turned around and opened the door to the outpost. 'But I just can't help but have a bad feeling about this place.'

After Cloud stepped in, Leviathan hovered outside, looking sad and lost. Cloud sighed noisily, and held the door. 'All right, all right, you can come in. Just don't wet anything!'

The sea dragon did a midair dance and instantly squirted a jet of water at Cloud's hair.

'Argh! On second thoughts, stay out!' Cloud slammed the door shut, trying to shake the water out of his hair. Wet hair at this chilly temperature was not funny!

But the snake had already crawled in, and was now comfortably coiled up in one of the chairs of the foyer.

Cloud cursed and swore as he tried to start the fire in the hearth.

It was only and already his fourth day in the past.

* * *

  
**14mar2010**

**...sorry for the long wait!**


	13. Chapter Thirteen

**Standard disclaimers apply.**

**x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x**  
**WHEN YOU WISH UPON A MATERIA**  
**x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x**  
**CHAPTER THIRTEEN

* * *

**

Cloud's walkie-talkie crackled to life before the stipulated half hour to wire in was up.

Puzzled, he left off what he had been doing and wandered near the table where he had placed the device. Picking it up, he spoke into it. "This is Cloud Strife."

A low groan of what sounded like an irate monster that had just lost its breakfast greeted him in response.

"What the..." The mercenary could not help but blurt out. He stared long and hard at the walkie-talkie, but there was no more sound coming from it. A brief check of the frequency showed that it was still at the setting Tseng had initially tweaked it to be. Which meant that the sound had to have come from either one of their devices.

Quickly, Cloud tried to establish contact with the both of them. "Cloud Strife here. I heard a monster growling from the previous transmission. Is everybody all right?"

Sephiroth was the first to reply. 'Currently exploring caverns around the site. Nothing of notable interest yet. No monsters.'

Following that, Tseng chimed in as well. 'The entrance of the excavation site shows signs of forced entry, but certainly not by monsters, any way I look at it. Otherwise, it's very quiet around here. I'll be examining the inner chambers more thoroughly in a while.'

There was a buzz as Tseng ended his transmission. Cloud frowned. "I heard a monster growling over the radio just now. Did anyone else hear it too?"

Tseng was the next to speak. 'Negative. Radio was silent until you wired in.'

A short pause later, Sephiroth spoke as well. 'Faint growling, yes. But not through the radio; from the direction of the excavation site.'

Buzz.

'I didn't hear anything,' Tseng stated matter-of-factly. 'Then again, I'm inside the site, so if the monster is hovering outside, I may not have been able to pick it up.'

'Although I do not think the monster is anything to be worried about, it may be prudent for you to proceed with more caution than usual, Tseng,' Sephiroth recommended.

'Roger that,' Tseng agreed. 'Anything else to report on?'

"Err," Cloud quickly grabbed the airwaves when Tseng stopped his transmission. For a while, he wondered why they were still using walkie-talkies with a single channel for sending AND receiving, when there were probably other better communication devices out there, but thought the better of asking. Instead, he asked, "Isn't it strange that I received a transmission of a monster growling on the radio, when none of you did? We're on the same frequency, aren't we?"

There proceeded to be a rather long period of silence, which was eventually broken by Tseng's voice. 'Good observation. I suspect it could be because some of these walkie-talkies have device-to-device communication built in. Perhaps one of the abandoned sets have found their way near that monster you were talking about, and somehow it was activated to directly connect with your set. In any case, we now know that besides Genesis or his clones, we may have to deal with an unknown monster residing near the site as well. I will send notification if I require assistance. Be sure to do the same.'

'All right,' Sephiroth replied.

"Yes, sir!" Cloud said, although the uncomfortable feeling at the pit of his stomach had not been quelled. "Over and out!"

Replacing the walkie-talkie on the table, Cloud sat in the silence of the outpost for a while.

'If that set could connect directly to me,' he then reasoned in his head, 'I should be able to connect directly to it as well, right?'

'Theoretically, yes,' was Vincent's immediate reply.

'Then I shall give it a go,' Cloud grabbed the walkie-talkie again and looked at it. 'I'm not fully convinced that monsters can randomly activate a walkie-talkie to directly connect to another device by just accidentally stepping on it.'

'I am inclined to agree,' Vincent was saying. 'Programming the set to connect directly to another set requires a lot more than just a single button touch. I will walk you through the process. Listen carefully.'

As Cloud followed Vincent's instructions on readjusting the settings of the walkie-talkie to reconnect with the last direct connection, he knew that his friend was right. This was not something that could have happened by pure chance, what with all the fiddling it required. His gut feeling that there was something not quite right about that tranmission just now had to be valid.

After carrying out Vincent's instructions to a T, Cloud pressed the button that would connect him directly to the set with the monster nearby.

"Is there anyone there? Can anybody hear me?" He asked into the walkie-talkie, then ended the transmission. No reply came, and Cloud frowned at that. 'What do you think, Vincent?' He asked in his mind.

'Unfortunately, since this is a walkie-talkie, there is no way you can hear anything from the other side again until they activate the connection,' Vincent explained. 'You can, however, set a walkie-talkie to automatically connect to that particular set at fixed intervals over a certain period of time, if you like.'

'All right, let's do that then,' Cloud nodded. 'But with another walkie-talkie, since I still have to use this one to talk to the others.' He rose from his seat after resetting his issued device back to what Tseng had originally set it, and went to where he last saw a box of abandoned communication devices. He fished a random one out and got down to programming it to do just what Vincent had described. With Vincent's help, of course. How the old man could still remember technology that was thousands of years old, he had no idea.

Halfway through his tinkering, his own walkie-talkie buzzed to life.

'There is no sign of suspicious activity on the area around the excavation site thus far,' it was Sephiroth, 'but I did hear the monster again. I will be trying to pinpoint its location now.'

Some static later, Tseng spoke. 'A wise course of action, considering all the unknowns about this mysterious thing. Let us know if you find anything.'

'Of course,' Sephiroth replied. 'Over and out.'

'Over and out,' Tseng repeated.

Cloud stared at the walkie-talkie on the phone. 'I don't get to have a say in anything anymore, huh?'

Inside his head, Vincent chuckled.

Shrugging, Cloud continued to configure the set in his hands. Once he was done, he set it atop another table at the corner of the room. 'So this device here will connect to the set that's near the monster and replay a prerecorded message every half hour or so asking whoever is nearby to report to base?'

'Yes,' Vincent confirmed. 'That's right.'

'I think we're done here, then,' Cloud stood and stretched a little. After which, he decided it was time to return to what he had been doing prior to the distraction.

There was a section of the outpost which had been converted into something like a lookout room. One could use the fixed binoculars there to keep watch over the excavation site, and that was what Cloud had been doing. Unfortunately, visibility was rather low due to the weather, so he had not seen Tseng enter the excavation site at all. At least, he was sure he had not seen Tseng enter via the main entrance. Nevertheless, he continued his watch.

Since the only other thing he could do now was to look at Leviathan sleep.

While he was in the midst of mapping out the excavation site for possible exit routes, the earth shook again. Thankfully for Cloud, his hands were on the binoculars' stand, which he grabbed tighter to maintain his balance. The good thing was that he managed to stay on his two feet. The bad thing was that the binoculars' stand was now cleanly snapped in half.

'What did I say about being careful?' Vincent chastised him monotonously in his head.

Cloud sighed, and channelled his mental faculties into coming up with a plausible excuse for the destroyed apparatus instead of making a witty rejoinder.

Then the earthquake started again.

With nothing to hold on to now, this time Cloud did find himself back on the ground. He grumbled unhappily under his breath and tried to stand again, only to find that the quake had yet to cease. The shaking lasted for a few more minutes before finally stopping. Quickly, Cloud clambered to his feet and made a beeline for the walkie-talkie.

"Just felt two earthquakes while in the outpost. One a few seconds long, the other a few minutes. Everybody all right?" He asked immediately after initiating the device.

'Currently in the basement of the site. No earthquake,' Tseng replied.

Sephiroth took slightly longer to say something. 'No earthquake,' he was saying, 'but I've made sightings of people who appear to be in Shinra infantry uniforms while tracing the origin of the growling.'

After a short while, Tseng said, 'It is unlikely they are really from Shinra. The last infantry was posted here nearly a year ago, and we completely lost contact with them within the first two weeks they were here. With no supplies to sustain them, I doubt the unit could have lasted this long. They could be spies who have somehow gotten their hands on the standard issue uniform.'

'Whatever the case, I'm on them,' Sephiroth said. 'Cloud, can you use the outpost lookout to look in the north-eastern direction and see if you can spot these people? They've somehow managed to disappear into the snow.'

"Yes, sir!" Cloud quickly went back to the lookout room to do as he was told.

'In the meantime, there is nothing of interest to note on my side as of yet,' Tseng stated. 'Will report in once there is anything. Over and...'

"Wait!" Cloud shouted. "Err... I mean... wait, sir!" He paused because Vincent was laughing in his head, but quickly said again, "I'm seeing the guys in uniform you were talking about. I think it may be better if both of you hear about this."

'What seems to be the matter?' Tseng asked, not sound perturbed by Cloud's outcry at all.

"First of all," Cloud squinted through the binoculars, "there seems to be more than just one person in uniform in the area. I see... at least a few. But the low visibility is making them appear and disappear at random, so there's really no way of ascertaining how many men there are exactly. Secondly, I see that they all appear to be coming out from the excavation site, and heading away from it in a certain direction. However, none of them ever reach their destination as far as I can tell. They simply vanish after a while. I'm really not sure what to make of this."

His piece said, Cloud waited for the others to assess the situation and reply. They soon did. The device crackled to life after a few seconds of silence. It was Tseng, and he said, 'Are you able to make out which side of the site they were coming out from?'

Cloud glanced into the binoculars. "The eastern side," he replied.

'All right, I'll check that side out right away,' Tseng went.

'You said they appear to be going towards a certain direction,' it was Sephiroth this time. 'Which direction exactly?'

"North of the excavation site," Cloud answered.

'Are you sure?'

"Quite," Cloud said as he peered through the binoculars again.

'I will check the areas north of the site, then,' Sephiroth said. 'Let us inform each other once any of us finds anything new.'

'All right,' Tseng agreed. 'Over and out.'

'Over and out.'

"Yes, sirs! Over and out!" Cloud spoke into the device, then set it to standby and replaced it on the table. 'Back to waiting, I suppose,' he grumbled to himself in his head, slouching forward. 'I wish I was out there doing something instead of sitting here growing fungus under my chin.'

There was a very long, poignant silence.

'I'm not sure if that was the best thing to think about, Cloud,' Vincent eventually said, and he sounded like he was twitching.

Before Cloud could question him about it, though, the roof to the outpost was ripped apart and flung into the air by a strong gale of winter wind.

And the walls of the outpost soon joined the roof.

"Wha...?" Cloud stood up immediately, grabbed the two walkie-talkies he had been using, and dashed as far away as he could from the outpost, which was now at the mercies of the sudden windstorm that had come from apparently nowhere.

As Cloud watched Leviathan do its strange dancing above where the outpost used to be, however, he was not so sure that the windstorm had come from nowhere, anymore.

'I never knew Leviathan could control wind as well as water,' Cloud lamented half-heartedly.

'No, but there is always moisture in the air,' was Vincent's reply. 'That Leviathan can control even such small amounts of water vapour to induce a violent windstorm, however, is intriguing to know.'

'Sometimes, I wish you weren't always so coherent,' Cloud grumbled. 'What in the world am I supposed to be doing now?'

Leviathan was done destroying the outpost by then, so it glided back to where Cloud was standing. The windstorm abated as suddenly as it came.

'I don't know, Cloud, you were the one wishing to have something other than sitting in the outpost to do, weren't you?' Vincent was saying.

'I didn't really mean it...' Cloud stared at the summon in front of him. 'Okay maybe I did mean it a little. But this is just ridiculous.'

Before Vincent could say anything in reply, one of the walkie-talkies buzzed to life.

'Is that you, Cloud?' Sephiroth asked over the airwaves.

"Err, yes?" Cloud answered.

'I picked up this old walkie-talkie in a large sinkhole-like cavern. It was replaying a message asking whoever was hearing to report back to base. I assume you were the one behind that?'

"Yes, well... remember that monster growling thing I was telling you guys about just a while ago? Apparently, it came from a walkie-talkie that had been programmed to directly connect to the set I was holding. Given that monsters aren't usually smart enough to do that kind of programming, I assumed someone had to have done that, so I tried to reestablish contact. Apologies for not informing you about it beforehand, but the communication drifted on to other topics before I could report about it."

'The infantryman who did the programming...' Sephiroth paused. 'He's dead.'

Silence.

"Where are you now?" Cloud asked. Then added as an afterthought: "Oh, by the way... the outpost has been torn apart by a sudden, violent windstorm which I had nothing to do with at all, if you must know."

'Really,' was Sephiroth's amused reply. 'In that case, you might like to inform Tseng about the situation with the other walkie-talkie, and I'll instruct you to officially join me in my search.'

And so Cloud did just that. After Tseng gave the go-ahead for Cloud to join Sephiroth (although he was extremely puzzled about how a windstorm that was strong enough to tear down the outpost did not also sweep Cloud along with it), Cloud saw a speck of fiery red in the sky, heading towards his general direction.

As it turned out, it was Phoenix. Trust Sephiroth to have all bases covered. He followed it downhill until the bird perched on top of a mound of snow that had managed to pile up to the height of an average man. Walking around the mound, Cloud found a side which was slightly collapsed, revealing the hole in the ground Sephiroth was talking about. Cloud glanced at Phoenix, who glanced back. As if sensing the question in Cloud's mind, it gave a majestic flap of its wings and dove into the hole.

With the fire on Phoenix's tail lighting up the inside of the cavern, Cloud saw that the hole in the mound was a sheer drop of around five metres. He hesitated for a moment - even with enhanced abilities and everything, broken bones still hurt and took some time to mend. Nevertheless, when he saw that there was a thick blanket of snow on the bottom of the pit, he steeled himself and leapt in after the summon. Leviathan glided in as well, following Cloud.

The snow softened Cloud's landing. He found himself standing in front of the entrance of what felt like a long tunnel of glooming darkness. Phoenix had already gone on ahead, lighting up the path briefly, so Cloud had a brief view of what the tunnel looked like - round, long, winding, and at least ten metres tall and wide. It gradually sloped downwards, but Cloud was not sure if it would end in a sheer fall or not.

Best be to ask the person who was already here, thought the mercenary shrewdly to himself. He activated the second walkie-talkie and spoke into it. "Sephiroth, can you hear me?"

Cloud heard his own voice echo down the tunnel. At the same time, he heard the echoes of his voice that was being broadcast over the companion device echo upwards from somewhere beneath.

Then came a reply, complete with double echoes as well. 'Yes, I hear you. And the echoes of your voice as well. You're probably nearby. Just keep walking down the slope. You won't fall off a cliff, don't worry.'

"How reassuring," Cloud mumbled. He kept the walkie-talkie and proceeded down the winding slope cautiously. Leviathan had a slight bluish glow when in darkness, helping him with the visualisation. After a few long minutes, he turned a curve and saw Phoenix standing at Sephiroth's feet, as if waiting for his arrival.

Pushing himself off the cavern wall upon seeing Cloud, Sephiroth silently gestured for him to follow. They walked around a few more curves before arriving at a gigantic cavern that seemed to stretch on for as far as the eye could see. Cloud gaped at the scene, but Sephiroth simply continued to walk.

Eventually, he came to a stop at a corner of the spacious cave. Phoenix then flew to the top part of the middle of the cave and started glowing a lot brighter, lighting up the area.

Cloud saw a gargantuan, worm-like creature lying sprawled out in the middle of the cave, obviously slumbering. It had to be as fat as the tunnel just now. Cloud observed that it was white in colour, and kind of furry as well. In fact, from where he was standing, the worm looked like a length of toothpaste that had been squeezed out from some gigantic tube. There were dried up skeletons littered all over the cave - some still clothed in the Shinra standard issue infantryman uniform.

'Well,' Cloud thought morbidly to himself. 'At least that answers where all the platoons of infantrymen disappeared to?'

'Yes,' Sephiroth agreed, speaking in Cloud's mind as well, making him jump. The General gave him a strange glance. 'Don't tell me you were expecting me to speak out loud in the presence of a hibernating monster?'

Cloud felt like strangling something. Preferably the man beside him. 'No, but I don't usually expect people to just talk in my head when they're right beside me, you know what I mean?'

'I'm always talking in your head,' Vincent announced, completely missing the point.

'Nevermind!' Cloud tried not to shriek out loud. 'Why are we even here, anyway?'

'You were looking for the growling monster, weren't you?' Sephiroth nodded in the general direction of the snoring worm. 'There you go.'

'Oh,' Cloud blinked. 'It looks like it's in a deep sleep, though.'

'This creature is a snoworm, a rare monster peculiar to the Icicle area that only awakens once every few decades to hunt for food. It remains active for a few years before hibernating again. During hibernation, it detects where there are large, natural underground caverns, digs a path through to it, and then uses its tail to cover the opening on the ground with a thick layer of snow by hitting it on the ground to cause earthquakes and avalanches. To keep other living things away from its hibernation point, it subconsciously projects illusions of creatures it has seen before to drive attention away from the cavern it is in. Whenever anything seems suspiciously near to awakening the snoworm, the subconsciousness triggers a reflex reaction in the tail to hit the ground to warn the creature not to approach,' Sephiroth ended his lengthy explanation. 'All things considered, the existence of this snoworm solves almost every question that has been lingering in the air about this area since we lost the first troop of infantrymen.'

Cloud was trying to deduce if Sephiroth had paraphrased that verbose passage or ripped it off from some Midgarian encyclopaedia. 'Is it part of the SOLDIER 1st exams to memorise every last bit of information about rare monsters as well?' He could not help but ask.

'Not really,' Sephiroth shrugged. 'It was something I was interested in, that's all.'

'Okay,' Cloud tried to believe that. 'Moving on... what did that large chunk of text have to do with any of the mysteries we're currently trying to solve? I got the part about the earthquake, though.'

'Yes, the snoworm had started to flap its tail because it detected a presence near it. This cavern is located right below the Mako excavation site.'

'And Tseng was walking towards it just now,' Cloud nodded. 'Then when I got a direct call from a walkie-talkie here, I answered it, and the noise must have caused the snoworm to react again.'

'The walkie-talkie belonged to one of the infantrymen who somehow managed to fall down into this cavern and could not find a way back out,' Sephiroth confirmed. 'Before the person died, he programmed the walkie-talkie to connect to base every once in a while, but probably did not record any voice message in fear of provoking the snoworm. He could have been hoping that someone would notice the strange call and attempt to locate the coordinates of the device.'

Cloud shook his head. 'Unfortunately... it would seem like it's already too late... I wonder how they fell in?'

Sephiroth looked upwards the the ceiling of the cave. Phoenix - which was acting as a pseudo lightbulb there - moved towards a certain area of the ceiling. The additional light helped Cloud see that there was a hole of sorts in that part. 'Like I have mentioned,' Sephiroth said, 'this cave is directly under the Mako excavation site, and stretches all the way to where the outpost used to be. The infantrymen sent here would have been asked to patrol the site at night. Snow can be deceiving. One foot in the wrong direction and they would have found themselves in this dark cavern, with no way of knowing how to escape.'

Cloud considered this. 'I suppose search parties were eventually sent out and all of them met the same fate?'

'I believe so, for there is more than one gapping hole in that ceiling up there,' Sephiroth agreed. 'After some time, the snoworm must have learnt how to create illusions of infantrymen in an attempt to drive people away from disturbing its sleep. Those illusions were most probably the suspicious activities reported by the Turks who came to scour the area.'

'What an interesting creature,' Cloud gazed at the sludge-like worm. 'Do you suppose it somehow saw Genesis and is making illusions of him as well? That might explain why people are reporting about seeing him in this area.'

'It is a possibility, but until we can be absolutely certain, locating Genesis remains a top priority for this mission,' Sephiroth replied. After a short pause, he continued, 'I suppose we should be making our way out and informing Tseng about our findings, then.'

'Right,' Cloud agreed. 'And our slimy friend would surely appreciate the peace and quiet, too.'

Sephiroth glanced at him. 'Snoworms aren't slimy. They have a porous skin texture where thick hair grows to cover them when...'

'Shut up. Please. This is a crack fic. Why are we being forced to make so much sense?'

Sephiroth actually laughed at that.

And the snoworm proceeded to slap them both with its tail.

* * *

**x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x**  
**6dec2010**

**yes. why ARE we always trying to make so much sense in fiction? sometimes i wonder.**


	14. Chapter Fourteen

**Standard disclaimers apply.**

**x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x**  
**WHEN YOU WISH UPON A MATERIA**  
**x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x**  
**CHAPTER FOURTEEN**

* * *

Cloud and Sephiroth eventually made it safely back to ground zero, and reported their findings about the snoworm to Tseng. If the Turk was impressed that almost all their mission objectives had been fulfilled with the discovery of a single giant insect, he kept it well hidden.

'I guess that leaves us with just Genesis now,' Tseng was saying over the walkie-talkie.

"Yes," Sephiroth answered. "I propose that we meet. It will be more advantageous for us to move together as a unit now that our objectives have been narrowed."

'I agree,' Tseng said. 'I'll head for the entrance of the site right now. That could be our convergence point.'

"Roger that," Sephiroth said. "Over and out."

'Over and out.'

While Sephiroth put away the walkie-talkie, Cloud opened his mouth and said, "I've been meaning to ask... have you learnt how to speak Bird over the course of our time here?"

The General stared at him.

"I mean," Cloud quickly clarified, "I was just recalling what happened. Phoenix flying to get me, guiding me to the mound, flying up to act as a lightbulb, showing me where there were holes in the ceiling... that was because you commanded it to do all that, right?"

Sephiroth quickly saw the point Cloud was trying to make. "In a nutshell, yes," he said, but nevertheless started walking, and gestured for Cloud to do the same. As they trudged along in the snow, Sephiroth continued, "I realised after a while that having a permanent summon is something like continuous spell casting. And just like how one can usually will the spell to attack whatever one wanted, one can also will the summon into doing whatever was necessary, so long as the channel of energy between the summoner and summoned remained open."

"But how do you transmit specific instructions, like asking it to fly to the ceiling and light the place up?" Cloud questioned. "And how do you do it without even looking like you were concentrating on casting a spell, if it is indeed something like spell casting?"

"How do you cast a spell and know where it's going to hit?" Sephiroth asked back. When Cloud remained silent, he continued, saying, "There is no hard-and-fast formula, Cloud. Like I'd mentioned, mental focus is the key. It would help, too, for you to think of the summon not as a separate entity altogether, but an extension of your members. And by all accounts they certainly act that way."

"But I don't have to think of materia as an extension of myself to cast anything," Cloud pointed out.

"True," Sephiroth agreed, then said, "but you have the confidence that, short of a phenomenal situation, the materia will work, don't you?"

Cloud frowned. "Confidence," he parroted.

"Yes, confidence," Sephiroth nodded. By this time, the excavation site was already within view, so the topic inadvertently shifted to their mission on hand. "Tseng is already at the entrance. We should hurry."

It was a short trip from where they were down to the entrance of the site, but Cloud was deep in thought the whole time after that.

Tseng greeted them when they came close enough.

"Since we are all here, I suggest we stick together and do away with the walkie-talkies," Sephiroth was saying, and Tseng agreed after a slight hesitation. The General then said to Cloud in his head, 'I see no point in splitting up anymore. Besides, any communication on the walkie-talkies are recorded and periodically sent to Shinra HQ for evaluation.' He did not explain any further, but at least Cloud understood why Tseng had paused for that moment.

"I've yet to examine deeper inside, where the reactor actually is," Tseng was saying as he briskly led them to where he was last conducting his investigations, "but already I've located a few spots where equipment that should have been there have gone missing."

"And you think Genesis may have taken them?" Sephiroth questioned.

Tseng shrugged. "I don't know, but we shouldn't rule out any possibility."

Sephiroth nodded. And Cloud wished Vincent was around so they could exchange meaningful glances, but alas, it was not to be. Out loud, he asked, "So we'll be retrieving the missing equipment if we find them?"

"Yes," Tseng confirmed. "Hollander seems to have been running an illegal laboratory here. The equipment he's been using will likely leave us clues as to what his research was about, and how best to counter it."

'Hollander was obsessed with creating the perfect SOLDIER, much like how Hojo was. Actually, they both probably still are,' Sephiroth helpfully supplied over the telepathic link. 'My gut instinct tells me the equipment was being used to make genetically modified copies of Shinra military men.'

As they walked further in and climbed down the steps of the site, the massive reactor soon came into view. Tseng had a clipboard in his hand and was taking down notes as he walked along. Sephiroth was looking around, but Cloud was openly gawking at the reactor core. "Does the reactor still work?" he could not help but ask.

"Interesting question," Tseng replied, in a slightly perkier tone from his usual one. "Technically it still does, but since there is no more mako to harvest, it would be a waste of power to leave it activated."

"Of course..." Cloud grumbled under his breath, just as they arrived at their destination - the elevator that would bring them to the control panel of the reactor.

Tseng went ahead and pressed the button that would summon the elevator. It came down from the above level, and they all thronged in.

Something pricked at the recesses of Cloud's mind. He tried to figure out what it could be, but Modeoheim was such a long time ago that he had even forgotten about it until the start of this mission. His brooding, however, did not escape the notice of his current superiors. "What seems to be the matter, cadet?" Tseng was the one who eventually asked.

Cloud didn't know what he should say in reply, when suddenly, his lips began to move of their own accord in response to a flash of memory. "Why was the elevator up there?" He mumbled, mostly to himself. "It shouldn't be up there... but why shouldn't it be up there...?" Cloud knew he was probably being confusing, but somewhere deep within him, he could feel that this was important.

Tseng was hit by a sudden revelation. "You're right, it shouldn't have been up there," he was already pulling his gun out. "The last time we came, we left the elevator at the lower floor. The only reason why it would be back up there, would be that someone had used it to go there, and is still there, since the only way back down and out of the reactor... is the elevator."

At that, Sephiroth narrowed his eyes. "What if that person could fly?" he asked, a little too testily.

"Then why would he even use the elevator?" Tseng reasoned.

But there was no more time for further conversation, for the elevator had arrived, and the steel wire doors automatically slid open to admit them to the control panel area.

Where the shadowy silouette of a person working at something on the control panel greeted them.

Sephiroth had the masamune out and was charging towards the silouette in a heartbeat. Tseng moved towards a dark corner and trained his gun at the silouette. Cloud moved away as well, in the opposite direction from Tseng. He reached behind to grab his sword, then realised he wasn't in the future. Clicking his tongue in annoyance, he grasped for the rifle by his side instead and waited to see what he could do.

A loud metallic clang that was the sound of Sephiroth's sword slicing some poor piece of metal into two reverberated throughout the empty reactor. The silouette had bounced away from Sephiroth's strike and the control panel had received the full brunt of the attack instead. However, Tseng had mentioned that the reactor was no longer in use, so the general had obviously not thought twice about damaging the thing. The long, thin blade turned as quickly as it struck and lashed out at the silouette again.

As the silouette evaded this strike as well, it came under the dim lighting of a wall torch. It could not be Genesis, Cloud decided, as the person was wearing standard issue Shinra uniform and equipment, albeit dyed red. The only thing that set him apart from other normal troopers was that he had a single black wing spread large and wide behind him.

"We need him alive, Sephiroth," Tseng suddenly said from wherever he now was. Cloud had to hand it to the Turks for knowing how to stay hidden in the shadows. Still, no one beat Vincent, who could literally become a shadow, if he wanted to. But that was another story for another time.

Sephiroth said nothing in reply to Tseng's request, only lashing out even more ferociously at his opponent. Eventually, the opponent managed to land somewhere far away from Sephiroth, and was about to turn tail and run when he was struck down by Sephiroth's long-range flash attack.

The opponent crumpled into a heap on the floor, and Tseng was magically by his side before anyone could blink. However, it still proved to be too late, for before long, the man started to fade away in black tendrils of energy.

When the last tendril vanished, Tseng shot Sephiroth a semi-accusing look. "I held back, you know," Sephiroth defended.

"He sure did," Cloud agreed. That attack wasn't even anywhere like the ones Cloud had had to face before, so why was Tseng complaining, really?

Both Tseng and Sephiroth turned to stare at Cloud curiously. Cloud simply shrugged and straightened himself, swinging the rifle back to his side. "Was that Genesis?"

Sephiroth's answer was to snort and turn away. Tseng merely shook his head, but added, "It was most probably a copy. The physical characteristics matched, and the wing was most telling. It is most unfortunate that we won't be able to get more information out of him now... Like what he was doing here, for instance."

"He's been trying to download the software of the control panel, and all the data stored inside," Sephiroth answered, from his position in front of said control panel. "And if he's a copy, then we know who's pulling the strings."

"Are you saying Genesis and Hollander are still working together?" Tseng made his way towards the panel as well, to verify the truth of the claims. "Need I remind you that Genesis had been killed by Zax in their last encounter? And even if he did survive that fall, he was trying to kill Hollander before that. What are the chances they would be working together again after that?"

Cloud searched his ancient memories, pleasantly surprised to find that he could locate them so quickly. 'What Tseng said is the truth,' Cloud said over the telepathic link. 'Well, at least up to the Genesis trying to kill Hollander part. I wasn't present for what happened after that.'

Sephiroth did not respond, either telepathically or verbally - an indication that he was deep in thought. Eventually, he moved away from the control panel to stand closer to Cloud. Tseng continued to evaluate the panel.

'I'm still not convinced that he's dead,' Sephiroth revealed, and that was all he would say about the matter of Genesis for now.

'General of SOLDIER, right?' Cloud was musing, mainly to himself. 'Tough things, those. Might need to take them out more than once before they're really gone, except not.'

Sephiroth stared at Cloud in an utterly amused manner. Cloud ignored him.

It was at this point of time that Tseng rejoined them. "Well, it looks like our mission here is over. Good work, gentlemen. Since the outpost is no longer functional, we will be returning to the helicopter landing site directly. Any questions before the mission is officially terminated?"

Cloud's ancient memories started resurfacing again. "Aren't we going to investigate the bathhouse and mines too?" he asked, despite himself.

Tseng nodded in acknowledgement, then answered, "I've already gone to the mines - it's been completely and irreparably sealed. There were no signs of forced entry of any sort, so I think it's safe to assume that there's nothing in there. The bathhouse, on the other hand, I chose not to explore because it was never Shinra territory, and there isn't any Shinra equipment in there."

"True, but..." Cloud dug deeper into his memories. "When Hollander was threatened, he fled straight to the bathhouse. Not the abandoned reactor or mines, or the outpost, or some other ice cave he might have had discovered that we had no idea about. I think that's rather telling."

"Or it could be a coincidence," Tseng refuted. "Frankly speaking, that was the only logical place he could have fled to. I don't believe we need to think too much into this."

"I think we should," Sephiroth spoke up. "Since we're already here, why not see everything? If Hollander's gone there before, he may have dropped a clue that could aid us in this mission."

Tseng thought about it for a rather long time. "Well, what have we got to lose?" he eventually relented.

Cloud found Leviathan hovering somewhere nearby and told the snake, 'Aren't you going to make yourself useful and go on ahead to scout out the bathhouse area first? Tell us if there's anything to be discovered or something?'

Leviathan tilted its head a little at Cloud.

'Actually, I've already sent Phoenix ahead to do that,' Sephiroth interrupted. No sooner than he had mind-spoken that, Phoenix cruised in from the direction of the bathhouse area, chirping a happy tune. After a while of that, Sephiroth continued, 'It says the general vicinity is clear of enemies.' Out loud, he told Tseng, "Lead the way, then."

Tseng nodded and started moving out. Cloud and Sephiroth followed after. 'So you speak Bird now?' Cloud could not help but quip.

'Mental concentration, Cloud. Remember what I said about mental concentration?' Sephiroth calmly replied. 'If the summon can understand you, you can understand the summon.'

Cloud gave it some thought. 'Just like spellcasting, right?'

'Similar,' Sephiroth nodded slightly. 'You do not communicate with the elements themselves, but summons are sentient masters of their elements and endowed with the ability to understand complex commands. Watching how you and Leviathan communicate made me realise that they can respond as well. When I say communicate, though, I don't actually mean having a conversation like you would with another person who speaks the same language. You can, however, deduce the general vibe of the summon's aura and mental inclination. Perhaps we can indeed hold conversations with our summons, but because my focus was insufficient, or that Phoenix had not completely opened up to me since I am just its master in the interim, determining its general mood is all I can do at the moment. Whatever the case, this certainly requires additional research upon our return, something I would need you to help me with, Cloud,' the General gave Cloud a sidelong glance.

It took some time for the meaning behind those words to sink in. 'Ugh, sure, if there's anything I can do,' he answered, without really thinking.

'There are many,' Sephiroth said with a slight smile. He then turned to look in front of him. 'And in the meantime, we have arrived at our destination.'

Cloud looked in front as well, as the entrance to the abandoned bathhouse slowly came into view.

"We're here," Tseng announced, turning around to face the duo behind him. "The complex is not very big, so we should be able to cover more ground by splitting up. I'll scout the reception area. Sephiroth, you take the bath area up ahead, and Cloud, you take the boiler room on the second floor behind that."

Sephiroth nodded and moved away without fanfare. After saluting Tseng in acknowledgement, Cloud followed as well.

After walking down a narrow hallway, they reached the bath area. Stepping in, Sephiroth did a quick assessment of the area. Cloud walked in behind him and took a quick look around as well. "Notice anything amiss?" Sephiroth asked.

At first, Cloud blinked and wondered why he was being asked that. Then he remembered that he had a mission here just recently. Technically, anyway. He looked around again. "To be honest, I don't remember," he said. "But nothing major's changed, I think."

Sephiroth did not press on, instead simply walking forward to examine something of interest in the area of the water pump. "I'll take this area then. Go on ahead," he waved at Cloud over his shoulder without looking back.

"Yes sir!" Cloud saluted on reflex, then put a hand over his mouth when Sephiroth glanced back with slight annoyance on his face. "Sorry, part of the disguise," he shrugged and zipped upstairs before Sephiroth could reply.

Once upstairs, pieces of memories began to resurface. This was where both he and Tseng had been knocked out during their pursuit of Hollander. The boiler room was just beyond the tiny door to the right, and after that, the battleground where Zax fought and subdued his erstwhile mentor.

'Can't believe I forgot that,' Cloud thought wistfully to himself. 'Zax repeated that story so many times in the...'

'Ahem,' Vincent interrupted him before he could finish that. Cloud jolted, then realised what he had almost been about to do. 'I think that by now, it is a well-established fact that your memory has holes the size of the northern crater, no matter how many times Zax may have repeated something to you. Mission at hand, Cloud. Mission at hand."

Cloud ducked his head, stilled his thoughts, and quietly slipped through the door into the boiler room. He made sure to walk a comfortable distance before finally allowing his thoughts to run free again.

'This is hard, this thinking thing,' Cloud grumbled, as he stood in the middle of the room and looked at the wrecked boiler. 'I'm going to make a big mistake one day.'

'So far so good,' Vincent tried to comfort his friend, although he sounded terribly amused at the same time. 'Don't strain your head too much.'

Cloud was too busy trying something else to make a reply. He focused within and tried to find the strand of energy that connected him to Leviathan. Leviathan sailed forward and positioned itself somewhere in front of Cloud, so that they were eye to eye. It was almost as if the serpent could sense what Cloud was trying to do and was responding.

After some more sifting, Cloud stumbled upon a particular strand of energy that when he mentally brushed over, turned the background to blurred static. He stopped focusing, and the background returned to normal. Carefully, he focused on that particular strand again, and this time, the background faded completely.

Leaving just him and Leviathan facing each other.

It took a few seconds to register that he had been channelled into a realm that was possibly nonphysical. Looking down, he confirmed his thoughts when he saw that he was standing on a vast plane of nothingness. The ringing in his ears was an indication of how loud the silence here was. He returned his attention to Leviathan.

"Hi?" Cloud greeted tentatively.

Leviathan roused and lifted its head slightly higher. A strong emotion washed over Cloud and almost knocked him back into the real world, if he hadn't grasped onto the strand of energy as tightly as he did. He could not hear Leviathan speak, but he knew the summon was trying to. He couldn't figure out what exactly it was trying to say, but it was something to the effect of "Hello!"-he was sure of that.

Well, Sephiroth was more or less right about the vague communication part, at least.

As he was about to try again, a voice pierced through his subconsciousness and dragged him back to reality. He returned with a sharp gasp, feeling his body tensing all of a sudden, even though he hadn't recalled ever relaxing (he was on a mission, after all). He looked around himself, but could see no one. Then he realised something.

'Cloud, I hate to be the bearer of bad news in this critical time,' an explosion could be heard in he background, 'but the resistance faction has broken into Professor Odine's compound and are nearly at the main lab. I'm going to have to leave the area for a bit to subdue them.'

'Resistance faction?' was the first question on Cloud's mind. Then he remembered. In the future, they had originally been engaged by Odine to be his bodyguards. Odine had been privately contracted by the ruling world government, and his experiments yielded results that were not quite popular with a section of the people. They formed a party to resist the authorities, and it seemed like the situation was turning quite serious over there. 'Did they bring the materia tankers? Please tell me they didn't bring the materia tankers.'

Another explosion over the link, louder this time. 'They did,' Vincent's reply was clipped. 'I must go now, Professor Odine is gesticulating rather quickly about something. I expect he has a plan. And I see some of the resistance from the windows, actually. Don't worry, we'll be-'

There was a loud crash, followed by high-pitched crackling, and then dead silence.

'Vincent?' Cloud tried, after his eardrums had recovered from the noises just now. Nothing. 'Are you there?' He waited for a while. Still nothing.

Cloud didn't bother to say anything more after that. The gravity of the situation had fully sunken in by now. Nevertheless, he found himself surprisingly lucid. So lucid, in fact, his mind was completely clear of any thoughts, except one.

"Have you found anything?" Sephiroth asked without introduction, as he stepped into the boiler room, apparently having concluded the search in his own assigned area.

Cloud turned around slowly, his expression betraying nothing. "Vincent's gone," he announced quite calmly. Sephiroth blinked at the seemingly irrelevant remark.

"I can't hear him anymore."

* * *

**x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x**  
**24oct2012**


	15. Vincent in Futureland I

**Standard disclaimers apply.**

**x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x**  
**WHEN YOU WISH UPON A MATERIA**  
**x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x**  
**VINCENT IN FUTURELAND I**

This is usually the part where the previous chapter's cliffhanger is dragged out in agonising detail, torturing the very souls of our heroes and leaving their (and the readers') psyches (or in the case of the readers, their hairdo or teeth or sometimes keyboards) damaged beyond repair for a few frustrating chapters of angst-laden narrative.

In a normal fic, that is.

Vincent had, by now, grown used to the fact that he would always have voices doing a running commentary in his head. There were four at first-no prizes for guessing who they were-which grew as he got to know and care for more and more people. It was strange, but not as strange as some of the stuff he'd seen before, so he simply let them be. After all, they could be pretty useful sometimes. Especially when he was in need of a tall tale or two.

Recently, however, the voices have been spinning a tale in his head portraying him and Cloud as characters in a story. How disturbing was that, right? Thanks to them, Vincent's sense of urgency had all but evaporated by now. Factions? Rebels? Insurgent attacks? What else could possibly go wrong? And more importantly, did it matter?

The man barely had enough time to pull young Cloud (Remember him? The one future Cloud exchanged timelines with?) from the massive life machine before the insurgents blasted a large hole in it with a materia tanker. He took cover behind a pillar, managing to load his gun as he did.

"You should not be doing that!" Odine was flapping his arms around from the other side of the room, where the data servers were. "He'll wake up if he's not in the life machine! And then there's no telling what might happen!"

Vincent was too busy warding off a few overenthusiastic insurgents to reply. Of course, he recognised that pulling young Cloud was going to cause some trouble. But what was he to do, leave him in the machine to be blasted into oblivion? After taking care of the rebels who had been on his back, he grabbed young Cloud again and flitted over to where Odine was. "Perhaps you should look into fortifying your equipment with some sort of a shield sometimes, Professor," he mumbled as he set the unconscious boy down. "Then I won't be so inclined to move the subjects around during times of peril."

Odine checked the prostrate boy for vitals and, after confirming he was at least still alive, relaxed. In the space of time, Vincent had taken out yet another two insurgents storming the main laboratory. The materia tankers were still quite a way off, but boy did those things have range. As if on cue, one more blast came flying into the laboratory, destroying even more equipment in the process.

Vincent activated the transceiver that connected him to the other guards on duty. "Report," he simply instructed.

After a few seconds of static, the line connected to one of the guards. "The front gate's been totalled. Two materia tankers four o'clock from Building C, 500 metres. We've taken down most of the foot soldiers, but nothing even nicks those beasts!"

Vincent had to stifle a sigh. At least the enemy infantry was more or less down, though with the tankers still crushing everything in sight, it may not matter much. "Apprehend all the foot soldiers. Leave the tankers to me."

"Yes, sir!"

"Professor," Vincent turned to Odine after swiftly turning the transceiver into standby mode. "I know there's an underground bunker for situations like these. Go there with Cloud and use the escape pod to propel yourselves to the Premier's House. I'll meet up with you again once everything is over."

Odine, who was being surprisingly calm for a scientist moving around amid explosions and gunshots, simply nodded. As he bent down to pick Cloud up, however, something struck him, and he asked, "What if you never show up at the Premier's House?"

"Well," Vincent had finished loading his gun and checking his materia, "then you get Cloud back by whatever means possible and let him take care of the rest."

"He's awake," Odine suddenly interjected.

Of course, Vincent's first thought was, 'Who's awake?' Then, it hit him like a ton of bricks and he very naturally spun around to confirm his suspicion with his own eyes.

A bleary-eyed young Cloud sat on the ground between him and Odine, blinking at the surroundings. Eventually, his eyes cleared and his dazed expression turned into confusion. He turned to his right, seeing Odine. He turned to his left, and there was Vincent.

"Umm..." it was young Cloud who spoke up first. "This isn't the infirmary... is it?"

**x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x**  
**1nov2012**

**tl;dr - vincent's having his own adventure in the future, so don't worry about the old man.**


	16. Chapter Fifteen

**Standard disclaimers apply.**

**x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x**  
**WHEN YOU WISH UPON A MATERIA**  
**x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x**  
**CHAPTER FIFTEEN**

Going back to our heroes in the past, Sephiroth was not quite sure he understood Cloud's previous statement about Vincent being gone. "What happened?" he asked plainly.

There was no answer forthcoming, even after Sephiroth had waited for a reasonable while. Whatever was going on in Cloud's mind was not being broadcast over the telepathic link. And it was eerie, in a way, losing something you had expected to be present. He wondered if Cloud was doing it consciously, or was Vincent's part in the link much larger than he had assumed. Nevertheless, the General had seen and heard enough to learn that some things were better left unasked and unanswered. At least, until a more appropriate time. He changed the subject. "Stay with me, cadet. Once this mission is over, I will render whatever assistance I can to resolve that issue."

Cloud's only response was to turn away slightly, to look at the boiler room. He was still silent, and so was his mind. Something was really wrong. Leviathan had swooped over by now, and was trying to get Sephiroth's attention.

When the General looked over, Leviathan gestured in a certain direction with its chin. Then it glided over to a large boiler in the middle of the room. Sephiroth took one last glance at the silent Cloud. The boy looked dazed. Lost, even. If something had truly happened, and Vincent was really gone, in the truest sense of the word, Sephiroth didn't blame him for being like this.

He knew all too well what it was like to be suddenly left behind.

Making purposeful strides forward to the boiler Leviathan was hovering beside, Sephiroth was determined to wrap up the mission as quickly as he could now. The look for Genesis, if he was even here, would be long and arduous. It made no sense to pursue a vanishing lead, especially when something of greater importance had cropped up.

Once he arrived at the boiler, he examined it. From where he stood, it looked perfectly fine, if a little old and rusty. Leviathan kept gesturing towards the back of the tank, though, so he moved there. As he did, he noticed a large, gapping hole where the access panel was supposed to be. Someone had yanked it off, and Leviathan was looking decidedly too smug to be unrelated to the demise of the panel. Sephiroth peered into the bedarkened area, waiting for his eyes to adjust.

Carefully hidden in the safe confines of the boiler tank, out of immediate sight, was an array of equipment similar to the ones in the Shinra labs he'd gone to thus far. Meters, monitors, switches, buttons, even two human-sized standing tubes infused with mako. Sephiroth had yet to step into the tank area that housed the equipment, but he decided he'd seen enough. He spun around on his heels, intending to inform Tseng about the boiler. He had not expected to see Cloud peering curiously over his shoulder into the makeshift room.

A shadow still hung over Cloud's face, but his eyes were clear and thinking. Sephiroth was surprised at how fast the boy had gotten over his shock to be in control of himself again. 'Better that than dragging a stunned cadet around all the time, I suppose,' the General remarked to himself in his head.

This earned him a baleful glare from the cadet in question. 'I can still hear you.'

'I'm glad, because the helicopter ride back would be rather boring otherwise,' Sephiroth mind-spoke, and meant it.

Cloud ignored the General, returning his glance to the equipment. 'There's something wrong with that tube,' he pointed at the mako tube on the right. 'Mako isn't usually that colour.'

Sephiroth always thought he knew mako well, but apparently he did not. He scrutinised the colour of the mako in that tube and found it to be in a different shade than usual, but only very slightly. He had no idea mako in a different shade was supposed to mean something, since most of the books he'd read about mako dealt with power consumption, with the occasional one or two about genetic engineering. 'You're right, but does it matter?' he decided to ask.

For a split second, Sephiroth saw Cloud making an are-you-kidding-me look. That split second passed and the usual poker face was slapped back on. 'The mako's tainted,' Cloud stated. 'And judging by that shade, it's been tainted with the blood of something. Or someone.'

Alarm bells went off in Sephiroth's head. He had, needless to say, never read about anything like that, but he knew from Vincent's story (he hadn't honestly bought into it hook, line, and sinker, but he'd decided he was going to accept it for now) that they were both very familiar with mako and materia (this part he truly believed). So when Cloud said something about mako or materia, it was almost a certainty that it was real.

"Stay here and guard the equipment," Sephiroth said out loud in a commanding voice. "I'll get Tseng."

"Yes, sir," Cloud saluted without heart. As Sephiroth left to get Tseng, he looked back once to see a dejected figure staring at the ground, frown firmly in place. He truly felt compassion for Cloud, and unconsciously quickened his pace.

The sooner they were done here, the better.

xxooxx

"This is quite a find," Tseng remarked, sounding quite impressed despite himself. He was looking at the equipment packed into the large tank, taking down notes and pictures as he did. "Along with the equipment that was left running in the reactor, I think we should be able to piece together a rather comprehensive report when we return. Well done, everyone."

Cloud and Sephiroth exchanged glances. 'Aren't you going to tell him about the mako colour?' Sephiroth asked over the link.

'Nah,' Cloud shrugged. 'Too much of a hassle to deal with the questions that'll come afterwards. Why don't you tell him?'

'I'm not supposed to be an expert on mako, much less the exact shade of mako,' Sephiroth reminded him. He kept staring at the tank with the tainted mako. "What will Shinra do with the equipment here?" Sephiroth eventually spoke up, directing his question to Tseng.

The Turk gave it some thought. "I suppose the Director of Science will want to have a look at it at some point of time. After that, who knows? They'll probably reconfigure the equipment for use in the headquarters." Tseng made one last scribble on his clipboard and lowered his arms. "That should do for now. I'll be arranging for a second mission here once I sort out the reports. This mission is officially over."

Again, Cloud and Sephiroth exchanged glances. 'If Hojo's going to reuse the mako in that tank, he'd probably run it through a battery of tests first, right?'

'To my knowledge, there is no test that tests for tainted mako,' Sephiroth helpfully informed. 'What does tainted mako do, anyway?'

'Well...' Cloud trailed off. 'Just watch,' he gave Leviathan a sidelong look, and the snake glided forward to slam its tail against the mako tube in question. The entire tank shook, and Tseng had his weapon out in the blink of an eye. The mako in the tank started to leak out through a small crack that had formed at the bottom, and once Tseng was assured there were no enemies nearby, he turned his attention there.

The puddle of mako on the floor was slowly frothing away with a harsh sizzling sound. It didn't take the men too long to figure out that it was slowly but surely eating through the metallic floor of the tank.

Tseng's frown grew as the puddle did. "That is certainly interesting," he whipped out his clipboard and started taking notes again. He tried collecting a few samples of the tainted mako, but the mako burned right through the plastic sheets and syringes.

'He needs a test tube,' Cloud remarked in his mind. 'One of the things tainted mako doesn't burn through is glass.'

'Not even Turks bring test tubes around on their missions, in case you didn't know,' said Sephiroth.

Cloud shrugged. 'Doesn't matter, as long as this ensures Hojo doesn't reuse the mako here in the SOLDIER program.'

Sephiroth noticed that the shadow over Cloud's face had already been lifted considerably. Putting that aside for later discussion, he turned to Tseng and said, "I don't think there's any helping it for now. I doubt we'll be able to find a receptacle here that can contain the mako. If we go back to HQ and return as quickly as possible, though, we may be able to think of something."

The Turk had risen to full height. He nodded his assent. "Astute choice. We shall return immediately."

Sephiroth simply nodded, and Cloud saluted (still rather listlessly) with a crisp "Sir!"

xxooxx

When they were finally back in the helicopter, shielded from the elements and the depressing backdrop of Modeoheim, all three men visibly relaxed. They took their usual positions-Tseng in the pilot's seat, Cloud and Sephiroth in the back.

"I'll let you know when we're approaching Midgar," Tseng informed, once they had taken off into the air and was cruising along for a short period of time.

Sephiroth nodded in acknowledgement. He then turned to look at the brooding Cloud. For the entire period after emerging from the bathhouse, he had not been reading anything from Cloud's mind. There were usually some emotion or other present, that Sephiroth could sense (which was quite similar to the way he communicated with Phoenix). None of that was accessible now. Curious, and hoping it was a better subject to start with than Vincent, he said, 'Your control's gotten better.'

Cloud looked up, his expression blank. As he apparently contemplated the question, however, a hint of confusion flashed across his face. 'Of Leviathan?' he asked. Now that he wasn't busy thinking about whatever he had been thinking, the emotional leaks started reappearing as well.

'Of the link,' Sephiroth clarified. 'You've somehow managed to shut it out completely from your end just now. Have you mastered the technique?'

'Oh,' was Cloud's reply at first. Then, 'I don't think I've mastered anything. Probably had too much on my mind to focus on maintaining the link,' he shrugged the matter off.

Somehow, Sephiroth doubted it. But seeing that Cloud was somewhat more responsive now, he asked, 'So what are materia tankers?'

This made Cloud sit up literally. 'When did you start listening in to our conversation?'

'That part, actually.'

'Oh,' said Cloud again. He glanced at his boots, and Sephiroth could sense hesitation and uneasiness over the link. 'Err, it's a weapon used by... our... race. Clan. One of those. Basically they've found a way to build tankers with materia as ammunition.'

'Without humans actually casting the spell?' Sephiroth was surprised. That was some pretty advanced technology for an undiscovered clan. Then again, that was probably why they'd remained undiscovered. If the whole thing was even true to begin with.

As if he could sense Sephiroth's suspicion, Cloud tensed up slightly again. 'Well... it's complicated,' he finished lamely. 'Anyway, those things are formidable, and very durable. Vincent may be in a bit of a spot.'

That was the cue, Sephiroth decided. 'What happened to him?' he reiterated the question he had first asked when the whole thing blew up.

Cloud took a while to reply. 'There are two... factions, I guess, of our clan. The one currently in power and the one... not in power.'

'I have a feeling you're oversimplifying things, but do go on,' Sephiroth quipped.

'If I had to tell you everything, I might have to write a few novels,' Cloud grumbled. 'Anyway, we're sort of attached to one of the factions, and it seems like the other faction's attacking the base Vincent's in. With really strong weapons.'

'And you're worried about him?'

'I'm not worried about him, I mean, I am worried about him, but not as much as you probably think I am, it's just...' Cloud's thoughts came to a dead halt there, something that happened from time to time. Slowly, though, his frustration started seeping through the mind wall he had set up. 'It's just strange not having him there all of a sudden. It's all right. I'll get used to it. I always do.'

The last few sentences sounded more like something Cloud said to comfort himself. Thankfully, Sephiroth was a man of style and he wisely chose not to say anything further to that. He did, however, wonder would happen now. 'If he's in trouble, you should go back and help him,' he finally suggested.

Cloud's mind wall was up again, but he was clearly thinking about something. 'I can't go back,' he slowly began, 'without Vincent.' A strange feeling of self-satisfaction seeped through the link from Cloud's side, and Sephiroth wondered about that. 'I need his help to return to where we're both from. Not Nibelheim, the, err, where the clan is. That's just how it is. I guess... I guess it means I'm stuck here for now.'

Silence stretched once more, during which time Sephiroth noticed the wall was back up. It seemed that Vincent hanging around at the back of his head made Cloud somewhat more open. Now that Vincent was gone, it was as if his thoughts had grinded to a stop. This made it difficult for Sephiroth to figure out his next move. 'I'm sure you know him better than I do,' Sephiroth eventually conceded, a tone of finality in his voice, indicating that was the end of the matter for now, as far as he was concerned.

Cloud simply made a face that Sephiroth could not read. To the latter's surprise, Cloud took the initiative to speak up this time, saying, 'That communication thing you talked about. I was trying it out in the boiler room. It sort of worked, I think. I couldn't hear Leviathan, but I could feel its emotions. Though I had to be pulled into another dimension just for that.'

'Another dimension?' Now this was a lot more interesting than wondering if Vincent was still alive or not - no offence Mr. Valentine, Sephiroth silently apologised in his heart. 'Do tell me more.'

'I can't describe it very accurately,' Cloud shook his head, 'but it felt similar to the Dirac Sea of the other day.'

'Curious, very curious,' Sephiroth leant backwards and gave it some thought. 'Perhaps the summons cannot speak intelligibly in our dimension?'

'Maybe,' Cloud shrugged. 'Does it matter?'

'It would certainly open up a new category of sciences, at the very least,' Sephiroth quirked the corner of his lips up slightly.

It was then that Cloud looked directly at him in the eyes, serious and contemplative. 'Will it change the way people are using them?'

Slightly taken aback at the sudden solemn turn, Sephiroth was sent into pondering as well. 'If we can understand them better,' he replied very slowly, 'perhaps we can also understand why they help us, and what we can do for them in return.'

Cloud's eyes narrowed slightly at first. Then he blinked and turned away. 'That sounds like a good plan,' he admitted, albeit a little grudgingly. 'I've seen summons... misbehaving, if you will. It's not a pretty sight... and not something I'd wish upon anyone.' At this, he stopped. 'Okay, maybe just one person, but I guess what I'm trying to say is that if there really is a way to somehow understand the summons better... I'm all game.'

Sephiroth knew Cloud was not lying when he said he'd seen summons misbehaving, and although he didn't buy the whole story Vincent had provided, he thought there had to be some truth to it. At least, the part about them being familiar with summons had to be true. And he believed that Cloud was truly trying to get to know these creatures better. For what purpose, he could not venture a guess, but he knew that if he continued to support Cloud in this particular aspect, he would one day find out.

Frustration and unease started seeping through the link. Cloud's face also started turning rather pale. 'Something the matter?' Sephiroth asked.

'Um,' Cloud was trying to find the right words to say. 'I'm not sure, but I think Leviathan's trying to tell me something.'

Sephiroth raised an eyebrow. 'Get it inside then. At least you can do the hiss-nod thing with it when you can see it.'

Cloud shot him a baleful glance. Then Leviathan suddenly appeared in the helicopter (it had been ordered to fly outside again). 'What's the matter?' Cloud asked Leviathan without delay. 'Enemies after us? Hiss once for yes.'

Leviathan simply hovered in the air, motionless and stationary. Cloud and Sephiroth looked at each other, and Sephiroth could even detect a hint of worry in Cloud's head. 'Perhaps it's just hungry,' Sephiroth offered.

'Are you hungry?' Cloud asked Leviathan, rather unwillingly. He didn't believe the flying snake needed to eat anything except MP, which he knew it was taking. This entire line of thought went through the telepathic link, which amused Sephiroth to no end.

Again, Leviathan remained silent and still. Eventually, though, it started floating towards the ground slowly. Once laid there, it gave off a low-pitched groan, surprising the men.

'What is it? I can't help you if you don't tell me!' Cloud leant forward in his seat, keeping an eye on Tseng as he did. He wanted very much to go to Leviathan, Sephiroth could tell, but Tseng would surely find it strange to see Cloud was kneeling down in the back of the helicopter, holding something invisible.

'Focus, like you described to me just now,' Sephiroth came in. 'You've succeeded in connecting to it once, you should be able to do it again.'

Cloud nodded, his features tensed. In a short while, his eyes glazed over, and Sephiroth could sense he was concentrating on finding something in his mind. A strand? That was an interesting metaphor for the communication line he had with Leviathan. But it also meant his concentration was improving. With some practice, he may soon be able to communicate properly with the summons. And Sephiroth somehow felt proud of that. Well, he did point out Cloud had to work on his atrocious MP control in the first place, so he was entitled!

As Cloud evidently delved further and further into his link with Leviathan, his eyes started to tinge mako green. Then he sat up straight suddenly, and the mako green in his eyes receded as quickly as it came. 'Oh,' Cloud blurted out.

'Oh?' Sephiroth repeated questioningly.

'Err,' Cloud had taken to massaging his temples. 'Leviathan's pregnant, right?'

Sephiroth glanced at the summon with the large egg in its stomach. 'Now that you mention it, I've almost forgotten it has that dragon egg. Although, that's the wrong definition of pregnancy, just so you know.'

'Aah, whatever,' Cloud was shaking his head now. 'So anyway, it's about to give birth.'

Silence.

'The egg is about to hatch,' Sephiroth corrected him, slowly and deliberately.

'Yes, yes, that's it, that's the thing,' Cloud agreed, his state of mind in obvious disarray. 'And somehow it's hurting Leviathan. It can't seem to muster up the energy to return to the spot we've prepared for it in the reactor.'

'Now that is going to be a problem,' said Sephiroth. 'Since there's no way we could ask the hatched dragon to make itself invisible.' He stole a glance at Tseng. "How much further to Midgar, Tseng?" Sephiroth asked out loud.

The Turk didn't even glance back, though he did acknowledge the question with a slight inclination of his head. "Half an hour more at the latest," was his quick and businesslike reply.

'I'm not sure Leviathan can last half an hour,' Cloud frowned, looking at the squirming snake with uncharacteristic concern, considering how much he'd wanted to send Leviathan back to the Dirac Sea in the first place.

'Can summons die?' Sephiroth suddenly asked.

Cloud looked up in surprise at the question. 'I...' he started, then paused. 'I don't know,' was the admission. 'I've seen summons being beaten back to their dimensions... they melt away, but they always reappear with the right materia.'

Sephiroth gave it some thought. 'If summons can die,' he pressed on, 'would you let it?' he nodded towards Leviathan as he said the last word.

Cloud gave Leviathan a sidelong glance. 'No,' his answer, though delayed, was sure and final.

Satisfied with the reply, Sephiroth leant backwards and produced a Cure materia. 'I'll try to heal it until we reach Midgar,' he declared, and immediately went about it.

'Tseng will be able to sense the MP movement,' Cloud protested.

'I'll handle Tseng,' Sephiroth shrugged, and cast the first spell as surreptitiously as he could. The tendril of energy hit, and Leviathan suddenly stopped squirming, though it was still curled up on the ground. It lifted its head up slightly to regard Sephiroth, who was scrutinising the creature curiously. 'I hadn't actually expected it to work, you know,' he mind-muttered. 'Summons being from a different dimension and all.'

'They have to be more or less related to the Planet, since they somehow found a way to inhabit an empty materia,' Cloud was recalling something Vincent had told him some time back. His mind-voice was now flush with relief instead of sullen discontent, though, so Sephiroth was glad that he took the risk of catching Tseng's attention. Speaking of Tseng, Sephiroth briefly glanced at the pilot from the corner of his eyes. No sign that he had noticed anything.

'I'm going to do this again. And once you're well enough to make that portal back to Midgar, do it without delay,' Sephiroth was talking to Leviathan directly now. Leviathan lifted its head even higher and hissed softly. 'Ready?' he asked, and Leviathan hissed once more.

A bright flash of green filled the helicopter, causing it to dip suddenly as Tseng was taken by surprise. The flash soon disappeared, however, and when Cloud opened his eye to look again, Leviathan was gone.

"What was that?" Tseng demanded from the cockpit.

"A Full-Cure," Sephiroth replied in earnest.

"What?" Tseng was obviously confused. "Why did you cast that for?"

"I was experimenting with something," Sephiroth smiled mysteriously. He then folded his arms and relaxed into his seat.

When Tseng next spoke, he was back to his usual composed self. "See to it that you do your random experiments next time in a location that wouldn't plunge us straight to our deaths at the slightest mistake, General," he stated icily, seemingly used to Sephiroth's random displays of power.

And thankfully, that was the end of the matter.

'You do this very often, don't you?' Cloud narrowed his eyes at Sephiroth in suspicion.

The General chose to remain silent, a most enigmatic smile plastered on his face.

**x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x**  
**6nov2012**


	17. Vincent in Futureland II

**Standard disclaimers apply.**

**x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x**  
**WHEN YOU WISH UPON A MATERIA**  
**x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x**  
**VINCENT IN FUTURELAND II**

Vincent only had a split second to think of something to distract young Cloud with, and it was to toss one of his spare rifles to the boy.

"Cadet 1073N," he said in the most authoritative voice he could muster, making young Cloud perk up. Cloud didn't know, but one of Vincent's favourite pastimes was to sniff out as much information on his friend as he could without him finding out. And yes, one of the things Vincent had managed to sniff out was Cloud's Shinra cadet number, which was coming in handy now. "Code E03 is in force and you are to escort Professor Odine over there to safety in an underground bunker. He will instruct you on how to get there and what else to do when you are there."

Although still evidently groggy, young Cloud - whom Vincent had taken to calling Cloudy in his mind (it's an abbreviation for Cloud!Young = Cloud!Y = Cloudy, see?) - stood up and saluted as smartly as he could. He then turned to Odine, who shot Vincent a calculating glance, before gesturing for Cloudy to follow. Cloudy complied, and they disappeared into the stairwell leading to the bunker before long.

Vincent made sure their presences could not be felt anymore before returning his attention to the laboratory, which was in shambles from the tanker attacks. Shards of glass and metal bits littered the floor, making crunching sounds as Vincent moved purposefully through. He reached the front doors of the laboratory, now adorned by two large, adjoining holes. Sparing them a cursory glance, he put his hands on the parts of the double door still there and pushed them open.

Coming face to face with the two materia tankers that were parked outside.

Vincent smoothly tapped his transceiver. "Report," he managed to mutter without moving his lips.

"Sir! All foot soldiers have been apprehended!" was the immediate reply.

"Keep them in custody," Vincent said, before switching the transceiver off again.

At the same time, the loudspeakers on the tankers blared. "Your time is over, Odine! Hand over your experiment's data and we might consider sparing your life!"

"I'm right here, you know," Vincent reminded whoever was making that announcement as he casually leaned on one foot.

"You won't be for long!" the loudspeaker said in reply. The tanker began charging up, and a blast of fire hurtled towards Vincent immediately after.

When the blast hit, Vincent was already gliding through the air towards the tanker. Powerful though the tankers may be, once you got behind their field of vision, they could hardly do anything to you. He landed on top of one of the tankers and fired an experimental shot at its shell. Not a single dent.

The other tanker, which was quite a distance away, whirled around at an astounding speed and fired a blast of ice, accurately slicing through the air just above the first tanker where Vincent had been standing. By which time Vincent had already hopped off, of course.

Vincent hated to admit it, but these things were cool. He'd heard all about them, seen them from a distance even, but this was the first time he was actually going up against one of them.

On the other hand, it wasn't very cool that his modified silver bullets didn't have a visible effect on the tanker's sturdy metal.

"I'm warning you, Odine!" the loudspeaker carried out as if Vincent wasn't there. "I've had one of my moles plant a clean bomb in your main laboratory a long time ago just for this day! If you don't come out and hand that data over right now, we'll make a pinpoint blast to that bomb and obliterate everything in this region!"

The transceiver was immediately back on. "Chances of claim being truthful?" Vincent quickly and quietly asked the guards.

"Sir! More than 80%, sir!" was the equally quick reply.

Vincent loved this team. He really did. They were quick to crunch stats and didn't ever question his authority. The thing was, they were also absolutely pathetic when it came to spotting subterfuge. Which was probably why the mole hadn't been weeded out during the tenure of his intelligence predecessor. Yes, the government had hired Cloud and Vincent for this on a rather hasty basis. If Vincent had been with the laboratory from its establishment, the clean bomb would never have made it through the front doors.

Nevertheless he had to make do now. "Evacuate everyone immediately into underground bunker. Including the prisoners," he ordered.

"Yes, sir!"

A tap, and the transceiver was off again. He stepped out of his hiding place and fired two quick shots at the metal tracks of the tanker nearest to him. The shots bounced off harmlessly. He flitted over to the back of the tankers and tried again, this time on the tiny space between the main body and the slightly eleveted gun turret.

The bullets lodged themselves into the space, but could go no further. Though the tanker remained unharmed, Vincent noticed that the gun turret could no longer turn as quickly as before. Pleased to observe that outcome, he fired a few more shots at the other tanker as well, in the exact same location.

As Vincent contemplated his next move, he saw Cloud running out from the main building to stand before the tankers, looking a little bewildered. Well it's about time, he thought to himself, then stopped. Wait. That wasn't Cloud. That's Cloudy! What in the world did that little blockhead think he was doing?! Vincent was flitting over before he even realised it.

He had but a split second to consider the situation once he was with Cloudy. He saw that the little cadet had some sort of a glowing stick in one hand and the rifle Vincent had previously thrown to him in the other. A blast from the tanker was heading their way before he could open his mouth to berate the boy, so Vincent turned around and threw up the studiest barrier he could muster instead. The blast put some cracks in the invisible wall, but thankfully ceased before it blasted a hole through. Vincent and Cloudy were safe for now.

The laboratory behind them was not quite so fortunate, though, but Vincent smugly thought it was justified. Sort of.

"Sir!" Cloudy suddenly spoke up, bringing Vincent back from thoughtland. "The professor has an anti-tanker weapon which he thinks will help!" Cloudy held the glowing stick out as he said that.

"And he sent you to bring that to me?" Vincent narrowed his eyes.

"No other foot soldiers were near!" was Cloudy's reply.

Vincent wasn't sure how that glowing stick was supposed to help, even if it did look like a sword from certain angles. And he voiced out his doubts.

Cloudy shrugged, in a manner reminiscent of his future self. "He said to cut the blast with the sword and throw it back at the tanker."

Ah, so it WAS a sword, Vincent continued thinking to himself.

In the meantime, the two tankers had finally managed to align themselves correctly so that they were both pointing at Cloudy and Vincent, having been greatly slowed down by Vincent's jamming of their turret axis. The rebels were apparently not ones for too much words, which Vincent was glad for. The last time he'd come across talkative enemies, they'd grated on Chaos' nerves so much the creature had spontaneously shapeshifted without permission, terrorizing friends and foes alike. That was an incident he'd rather not have to repeat.

Then again, it was a little bit harder to prepare for sneak attacks, without the rebels announcing when they were going to fire. Like now, as the two tankers unleashed a simultaneous attack on the duo, giving them little time to do anything much.

Vincent's first thought was to grab Cloudy and dash into the underground bunker, leaving the insurgents for the next time they would meet (and incurring the world government's wrath for not having done his job, he was sure, but honestly, who didn't make a few big and small mistakes once in a while?). Cloudy, however, had no such thought on his mind. The scrawny little cadet stepped out of Vincent's protective shadow and swung the glowing stick, sorry, sword down on the incoming blast like he was hitting a very large watermelon on the floor.

Vincent sighed and prepared his cure materia. He had quickly set up a barrier over Cloudy before the blast came. Thankfully, he also knew his friend had always had good affinity with materia, so the blasts wouldn't singe him too much all things considered, even if they might send him hurtling into a slab of wall. That would teach him not to chew off more than he could bite, Vincent was sure.

Which was why he had not expected at all to see the glowing stick-sword thing absorb the blasts in their totality, bouncing them back to the tankers as swiftly as they had been fired.

The rebounded blast went right through the cannon of one of the tankers, causing it to sputter. Cloudy then switched to his rifle and fired a few shots aimed at the centre of the cannon. Unfortunately, while he was quite close to the mark, he couldn't get a bullet in edgewise.

Having deduced what the next step to stopping these unstoppable machines should be by now, Vincent stepped between Cloudy and the tanker he was trying to do away with. "Marksmanship is my terrain, cadet," Vincent murmured, a bullet already on the way into the cannon interior before he'd finished the sentence. It entered the tiny space that served as a channel for the blasts smoothly and found whatever had been powering the tanker. A sound much like the sound of a glass shattering could be heard, before the tanker grinded to a complete stop, its mechanical whirling sounds slowly fading into silence.

"I see," Vincent nodded to himself. "I see..." He knew he should be thankful to Odine for inventing that stick-sword thing and apparently telling Cloudy how to best these monster tankers, but he was still going to hurt the man grievously once he met him again. If anything happened to Cloudy... Vincent shuddered to think of the consequences.

"What now, sir?" Cloudy broke his thoughtful silence.

Vincent cocked his gun. "One down," he rasped, "one more to go."

The sooner this was over, the better. For both the past and the future.

**x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x**  
**17nov2012**

**there will be more of these mini vincent in futureland ficlets within a fic... better get used to them! or skip them if you prefer; they're not that essential to the threadbare plot.**

**a/n - In case anyone's wondering, I did draw that super deformed Cloud in the thumbnail. I've got an SD Sephiroth too. Wanna see? (The Cloud one's cuter though! *biased*)**


	18. Chapter Sixteen

**Standard disclaimers apply.**

**x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x**  
**WHEN YOU WISH UPON A MATERIA**  
**x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x**  
**CHAPTER SIXTEEN**

Sephiroth was summoned to the SOLDIER floor immediately upon his return to HQ, which he was none too happy about. Before he left, he gave Cloud his word that he would be at the secret location at the earliest possible time, as soon as he could find a way to weasel out of whatever they were going to make him do now. Cloud told him it was really no rush, and their close proximity ended as soon as the lift carrying Sephiroth shot upwards and could no longer be seen through the transparent glass of the lobby walls.

Cloud let out a breath he hadn't known he'd been holding. He removed his helmet, submitted his report to the control panel, waved goodbye to Tseng (who had been talking on the phone the moment he alighted from the helicopter), and took another lift to his barracks.

It was already night, but his barrack mates were nowhere to be seen, most probably out and about the Midgar plates. Cloud surreptitiously made his way to the bathroom and decided to wash up a little before going to the hideout to check on Leviathan and the dragon. He knew he was simply numbly going through the motions, but he couldn't help it. He was currently incapable of feeling anything much, and it wasn't going to go away until he could gather his thoughts and go over the series of events that had just occurred again.

As he was washing up, his hand came into contact with the materia pendant he was wearing. The one that facilitated conversation between the present and the future. The one that Sephiroth was interrupting with his magical signature to overhear all his thoughts.

Cloud considered his options. If he deactivated the materia now, his thoughts would be safe from Sephiroth even if he was nearby.

But if Vincent suddenly found a way to contact him again, he wouldn't be able to hear him.

He decided the stakes were too high, and he would leave the materia activated.

It would be good training for his mental concentration, anyway, he comforted himself by thinking. Having finished his business here, he stepped out of the washroom and made his way purposefully to the lobby again, meaning to leave and head for the secret location to check things out right away.

Except, Tseng happened.

Cloud sighed when he heard the Turk calling his name. He muttered under his breath, turned around, and saluted the approaching Turk. Who, incidentally, was still on the phone. "Yes, I understand," Tseng was telling the person on the other line. "I'll be right there with backup."

'I hope you're not going to ask me to do what I think you're going to ask me to do,' Cloud grumbled in his mind. Even if Vincent wasn't hanging around his head anymore, he could still talk to himself, right?

"Cloud," Tseng began, as he kept the phone. "There's been a scuffle at Sector 7. I need you to accompany me there to assess the situation."

Cloud stared at him. "I'm just a cadet," he reminded the Turk.

"I just need another witness," Tseng qualified. "Immediately."

A witness for what? Cloud wanted to ask, but astutely stopped himself. "The other Turks?" he asked instead.

"Unavailable," was all Tseng would say.

Cloud stared some more. "Am I allowed to decline?" he ventured.

To which Tseng simply said, "You'll receive more credits."

'Which means no,' Cloud huffed. Then saluted. "Lead the way, sir!"

Tseng gave a brief nod and turned around to walk out. As Cloud followed, he wondered if he could leave a message for Sephiroth with the receptionist, something along the line of, 'Sorry! Can't make it! Have fun!'

...Naaaaaah.

x-x-x

It turned out there were already quite a few other cadets hanging out around the scuffle area, when Tseng and Cloud arrived, making Cloud wonder what exactly was he there to witness. Upon seeing the Turk, the cadets snapped to attention and saluted. The cadets had their helmets on, but none of them showed any signs of recognition when Cloud had showed up, so Cloud was rather sure none of his bunkmates were there. That would have been awkward.

"Where are the perpetrators?" Tseng asked.

"Sir! We've got them right here, sir!" replied a random cadet in a high-pitched voice, obviously nervous to be before a higher authority. Cloud wondered if he had ever been like that before as well.

Glancing at the feet of that particular cadet, Cloud saw a few battered-looking civilians who were tied together back to back, heads bowed. Tseng hadn't moved from his spot at all, except to tilt his head slightly to take a grim look at the civilians.

Or where they?

"AVALANCHE," Tseng muttered, but loudly enough so that the civilians could hear. One of them snapped up and, upon seeing Tseng, glowered.

"Shinra dogs," the man spat venomously.

"I see that you're not even bothering to deny it," Tseng moved closer. "Why the sudden flare of activity? Tired of hiding in your sewers?"

As the Turk continued to interrogate the man, who was apparently an insurgent in civilian clothes, Cloud felt his head becoming lighter. These people were from AVALANCHE? The same one Cloud and his team belonged to in the distant future? It was strange to consider this. The AVALANCHE Cloud knew had always been small. He'd never bothered to ask about the group's history, figuring it was none of his business. And it wasn't like Tifa had a lot to tell him, anyway.

Looking around, he absentmindedly counted that there were five cadets and three insurgents. Two of the insurgents were awake and exchanging poisonous words with Tseng. The last one had apparently been knocked out, as he wasn't responding to anything at all.

However, there was something off about the picture. Cloud couldn't quite put his finger on it, but something just wasn't right. At first, he thought it was just strange because he couldn't find any reason why a high-ranking Turk would bother with 'enemy fodder', so to speak. By the look of things, these insurgent were definitely not part of the executive group of the current AVALANCHE. Why was Tseng here, and what did he want Cloud to witness exactly?

The interrogation was over by the time his thoughts gave out. The subconscious part of him that had been listening in told him there was nothing much to glean from the conversation anyway, so he thought nothing of it. Tseng was ordering the five cadets to transfer the restrained insurgents into a Shinra helicopter that had arrived from nowhere. Cloud stood by and watched the entire thing without speaking, only wondering.

Finally, though, he spared a questioning glance at Tseng, who caught it and nodded in acknowledgement. The look in his eye said 'I'll tell you later.' Out loud he said, "Well done, cadets. You may return to HQ along with the helicopter."

'By cadet I suppose he means me as well?' Nope, Cloud didn't find this entire matter confusing in the least. Not at all, right? He made to follow the other cadets filing away, but was stopped by a hand on his shoulder.

"You stay," Tseng quietly commanded over the loud rattling of the helicopter's beating wings. If Cloud's hearing hadn't been quite as enhanced as they were, he might not have heard it at all, but even without hearing Tseng, he could tell from his body language that he wanted him to stay.

And so he stayed.

They watched the helicopter take off together, and when the aircraft was finally a dot in the sky, Cloud gave Tseng the same questioning glance as he had just now. Tseng tilted his head in a certain direction, and turned to walk that way. Cloud, well-versed in the ways of silent Turk communication no thanks to one Vincent Valentine, followed.

They arrived at a alleyway, wet and dirty. Tseng pulled on his gloves and crouched down to examine something on the floor. Cloud stood and looked at the muddy path full of footprints big and small. The alley itself was wedged between two buildings and it led to a dead-end. There were backdoors leading out to the alley from both buildings. Lighting was inadequate, and the single bulb that was there blinked intermittently. The only other artifact was a large green dumpster. It was like a scene right out of a detective novel, Cloud mused. Only thing missing was a corpse.

"Go check the dumpster," Tseng commanded as he handed Cloud a pair of gloves.

'Check it for what?' Cloud wondered, but did not ask. Slipping the gloves on, he walked over to the dumpster and flipped the cover open.

And there was the corpse that made the picture complete.

Cloud frowned, his mind suddenly focused. He quickly analysed what he was seeing. It was a dead cadet, still clad in his uniform. The dead cadet's eyes and mouth were opened. A trail of blood trickled down from his temple to his cheeks.

Wait. A cadet?

He could feel Tseng approaching him from behind, so he turned around to regard the man with a frown that demanded answers.

"Just as I thought," Tseng murmured, his phone already in his hand. He gestured for Cloud to move aside. When Cloud did that, Tseng took a quick picture of the victim with the camera in his phone. Then, after pressing a few buttons, he said, "That was one of the cadets sent to subdue the scuffle."

Cloud turned back to look at the cadet, feeling slightly angry. "None of the other cadets said anything about this," he spat.

Tseng nodded. "That's because none of them knew."

"What?" Cloud frowned. "How can they not know that someone's missing from their team?"

"That's the thing," Tseng's eyes were on his phone again, and he was pressing buttons here and there. "Five cadets were sent to the scuffle, and five cadets were sent back after that."

Cloud turned the information over in his head. Then the light dawned. "One of the cadets sent back was..." he was slightly awed and at the same time slightly annoyed that he hadn't gotten it earlier. "What now?" he asked Tseng, adding a "Sir?" as an afterthought.

"I'll take care of the body," Tseng coolly stated, using his gloves to check the body as he did. "Do not tell anyone about this until I allow you to."

Cloud returned his glance to the body lying in the dumpster. This was probably what Tseng needed a witness for. Still, he just had to ask. "Isn't it dangerous to let all the cadets just return to HQ like that, then?"

"They think they've got us," Tseng murmured, "and we'll let them think that while we get them."

What was it about Turks and riddles? Cloud wondered to himself. He looked at the body again. Tseng was examining the cadet's feet by now and had paid no attention to it, but Cloud felt that he had to do this. He stepped forward, stretched his hand out, and passed it over the opened, hollow eyes of the boy from his forehead downwards. When the hand had fully passed, the eyes were now closed. "Rest in peace," he whispered, slight sadness washing over his emotions.

It still hurt, no matter how long he had lived, no matter how many deaths he had seen.

Tseng said nothing, nor did not berate Cloud for doing what he did. In time, the sound of gloves being removed gave Cloud reason to return his attention to Tseng. As he did, the Turk said, "We're done here. You may go," he dismissed Cloud.

Cloud saluted his senior officer, then turned and fled the scene as quickly as he could without looking like he was actually fleeing. He really didn't want Tseng to change his mind when he was still in sight.

Tseng, for his part, when he was sure Cloud was out of hearing range, rolled his gloves into a ball and clenched it in one hand, his thoughtful gaze fixed in the direction Cloud had disappeared in.

"Just a cadet, huh?"

x-x-x

Cloud sighed.

It had been a terrible day. In fact, his time in the past had been steadily progressing from bad to worse. Though, he didn't know if anything could top this particular day. Helicopters ride back and forth a cold, wintry place. Wild goose chase for a lost Shinra General. Big snoworm slaps. Mako reactors. Clone equipment. Vincent disappearing. Bodies in back alley dumpsters.

And being followed by someone.

Cloud grumbled to himself in his head. He just wanted to see how the dragon was doing and head back to the barracks for another brief respite, but if the stalker wasn't going to give up soon, he might have to do it another day. He'd been wandering around the Sector 7 plate for a while now, trying to shake the person off with all the Turky tricks Vincent had taught him (or, tried to) before, but it wasn't working.

Therefore the only conclusion he could come to was that he was being followed by a Turk.

As for WHY he was being followed by a Turk, well. The only thing he could be sure about was that Tseng had to be involved somehow.

After trying for a few more minutes, Cloud decided that the day was officially over and Sephiroth could go play with the dragon himself, that nerd. Cloud was going back to HQ to sleep and that was that.

On his way back, he met Zax, who was apparently running around Midgar scouring for items to build a flower wagon with.

"Help me!" Zax had begged, complete with sparkles and puppy eyes. No amount of fatigue could impel Cloud to decline.

Besides, it might throw that Turk off his back.

"So here's the thing," Zax brandished his bag of materials. "I already have some walnut wood from Wutai, tyres from another SOLDIER, and fantastic mythril tools from a researcher in the vehicle room. All I need now are instructions to assemble them. Know anywhere I can find some?"

"Why don't you just knock something together?" asked Cloud.

"I don't have enough wood for that," Zax pouted. "In case it doesn't work out, you know?"

Cloud sniggered. "Maybe you can try finding a book that talks about such things?" he suggested.

Zax brightened visibly at this. "Great idea, my friend!" he exclaimed. "To the nearest bookshop, quickly!"

For the next hour or so, Cloud tagged along with Zax as he flew from book store to book store in search of the legendary book of wagons. The closest thing they found was a magazine by the name of Craftsman Monthly, but all copies of the book had already been sold out by the time Zax and Cloud came asking.

As they walked out of the last book store in the area, Zax heaved a sigh. "This isn't going to work out, is it?" he was starting to question himself.

"Well," Cloud pat him on his shoulder, "you can always... knock something together, like I'd mentioned..."

The only thing Cloud got as a reply was a woeful groan.

"Or... take her out for a movie, maybe?" Cloud felt helpless and slightly annoyed at the same time. After all, he was pretty sure anything Zax gave Aerith (it was a no-brainer who the wagon was for), Aerith would love.

Zax peeped at Cloud from the corner of his eye, still slumped. "How'd you know I'm giving it to a girl?"

Cloud gave him an incredulous look. "Are you expecting me to assume you're building a flower wagon for Sephiroth or something?"

At this, Zax straightened and laughed out loud. He held both hands up, shaking his head and grinning. "I know, I know! Don't be so serious, Cloud! I was just joking," he winked. "Though, I guess the movie isn't a bad idea either..."

"They're showing LOVELESS in the theatre a few streets down," Cloud helpfully pointed at a flashing poster that pointed at a certain building.

Zax actually gave it some thought. "I guess it wouldn't hurt to ask," he shrugged. "Might find some clues too..." the last sentence was mumbled, but Cloud caught it anyway.

'Are they still looking for Genesis?' Cloud shook his head. He'd met the man a few times in the future, and the only thing he'd learnt from their meetings (besides a few LOVELESS lines) was that the guy would show up when he wanted to.

Nevertheless, they walked towards the theatre in amiable silence. There was a show in progress when they reached, so Zax simply took to staring at the board outside that detailed the ticket prices. Cloud, however, was staring at a Shinra captain standing at the other end of the street, holding a copy of the - surprise, surprise - Craftsman Monthly in his hands. He quickly elbowed Zax, who actually choked due to the amount of strength Cloud had unknowingly applied.

"The Shinra captain there," Cloud whispered, oblivious to Zax' agony.

"Huh?" Zax was not just in agony, he was in confusion as well. This would make it the second time Cloud had some sort of a physical effect on him. Was his mako wearing off or something? He looked in the direction where this Shinra captain was, and all the questions took a temporary respite. "That's... Craftsman Monthly!" Zax was running towards the captain before Cloud could confirm the finding for him.

Since they were all from Shinra, and since SOLDIERs were technically senior officers, Cloud assumed the captain would simply cough up the magazine when asked, so he didn't follow to see if he could render any further aid. Instead, he checked the time and almost tripped when he saw that it was nearly the cadet curfew time.

He jogged up to Zax and the captain, who were engaged in a heated discussion about something. "Hey Zax," he interrupted them, and they paused. "I need to go back now. Cadet curfew. If you still need help building that wagon tomorrow, I should be available in the evening."

Zax grinned. "Thanks bud," he reached over and messed up Cloud's invincible hairdo, earning him an annoyed snort. "I might just be taking you up on that offer!"

Cloud was holding his head (hair) as he retreated a few steps back to be out of Zax' reach. "Whatever, just give me a call or something," he tried to straighten his hair. Noticing the captain, he saluted, realising belatedly he was the lowest ranked member of the hierarchy here. The captain dismissed him with a wave, so he nodded, gave Zax a final wave in farewell, and went back to HQ for real this time.

The sad thing was that the Turk was still following him.

He wasn't sure how he eventually found his way back to the barracks after that, since his mind and body were on complete auto-pilot. The only thing he remembered before hitting the bed was that there was something about that flower wagon he should be taking note of. Something very, very important. Not that it was for Aerith, since he already knew that. Something he had completely forgotten about.

Something that would cause him to wake up with a start the next morning.

His Shinra-issued mobile phone was blaring loudly from somewhere under his pillow. Cloud leapt out from bed and quickly tried to grab his sword from where he usually kept it when he slept. Except, it wasn't there. Then Cloud remembered he was in the past, and there were no swords. He relaxed slightly and pulled the phone out from the sheets, switching the alarm off.

He checked the time. It was 0500 hours. Who in the right frame of mind would send a message at this time? And hadn't he set the thing to silent mode? Navigating to the message in question, he opened it.

The message:

TO: Mission 0839 Party Members  
FROM: Mission Control Centre  
SUBJECT: NIBELHEIM  
Report to Briefing Room 3 on SOLDIER Floor at 0730 hours today.

For a long time, he simply stared at the screen of the phone, unmoving.

How could he have forgotten?

How could he?

The flower wagon.

Zax had been talking about it during the mission briefing for Nibelheim. About how proud he was to have completed it in one night or something.

And wasn't it just so convenient that the plot device of a time machine sent him right back to the time when his existence would overlap this life-changing event?

Cloud found that he was being surprisingly calm and lucid about this entire thing.

He brooded over the matter for a little while.

'I need a plan,' he finally decided, standing up purposefully.

And he did what every man who needed a plan would do.

Enter the washroom.

**x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x**  
**30nov2012**

**changed the icon just for this chapter for AnnAisu. ;)**


	19. Vincent in Futureland III

**Standard disclaimers apply.**

**x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x**  
**WHEN YOU WISH UPON A MATERIA**  
**x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x**  
**VINCENT IN FUTURELAND III**

The other tanker, still operational, fired another blast at the duo. This time, Cloudy was taken by surprise and didn't manage to swing the stick-sword on time. The barrier Vincent had cast took most of the damage, but the next blast came almost immediately and knocked the sword out of Cloudy's hand. Cloudy yelped and was thrown a few steps back into a pillar. The loosened beams on the roof of the laboratory entrance came crumbling down, semi-burying the boy.

Vincent stepped between the tanker and the pile of debris, slightly concerned but aware that the top priority right now was ensuring safety. He activated the Gravity materia in his equipment and sent a powerful Demi3 hurtling towards the remaining tanker. The spell of distortion latched onto the tanker and lifted it into the air slightly before sending it crashing onto the ground, holding it there. That would stop it from moving for a while, Vincent thought to himself.

Turning, he saw that the pile of debris behind him was starting to move. Before long, Cloudy emerged from the broken beams, coughing up a storm but otherwise looking fine. Okay, maybe not as fine as Vincent would like him to be. There was a long, bloody cut running down from his left elbow to just above the back of his left palm. His eyes were also slightly glazed over, indicating a concussion of sorts.

Vincent frowned. Cloudy didn't have the enhancements Cloud did (yet), so that wound was sure to impair his ability to move around. It was also a deep wound, which would leave a scar if not taken care of properly.

In the meantime, the young boy shook his head and stood up. Wobbly at first, he managed to regain his composure quite quickly, and was looking around for the sword before Vincent could call out to him. He located it soon enough, dashing towards the fallen weapon without hesitation. Vincent sighed and followed close behind. It would appear Cloud had always had a one-track mind, even before Hojo had gotten to him.

"Stand back," he ordered the young cadet, once the latter had retrieved the sword.

Cloudy tried to protest, but stopped when Vincent began transforming in a shroud of green and black mist. He watched in unabated horror as the greenish ghoul with the massive chainsaw that next appeared proceeded to tear the formerly invincible tanker into right pieces.

The chainsaw guy then turned and stalked towards him, forcing him to retreat until he hit a crumbling wall.

They looked at each other for a long time.

"W-What are you?" Cloudy asked in confusion. "What have you done to him?" He was referring to Vincent, of course. After a short silence, Cloudy asked in a smaller voice, "...Are you him?"

Vincent the Hellmasker sighed, but it came out like an angry growl, making Cloudy shrink further back. "Yes, I am the one you were fighting together with. I cannot change back until a certain period of time has passed. And that is why I hate doing this," he had meant to grumble in a low voice, but what came out instead was a series of loud, booming, angry roars.

The stick-like sword in Cloudy's hand wavered a little, but the little cadet kept his guard up. Footsteps crunching through broken glass and cement was what it took to finally ease the tension between the two send them both looking in the direction of the sound.

It was Odine, looking rather miffed about the destruction of his laboratory. He saw the duo and walked over purposefully. Once he was there, he gave Hellmasker a questioning look. "And who may you be?"

"I am Vincent Valentine."

Odine gaped. Took a step back. Scrutinised the creature from top to toe. He looked like he wanted to say something, but clamped his mouth shut and shook his head, deciding against it.

"Why haven't you escaped yet, Professor?" Vincent rumbled in Hellmasker's voice. "All of this," he gestured with his chainsaw at the carnage behind him, "would have been for naught if they had gotten you or the data."

"Because, my friend, I have discovered the solution to our Leviathan problem."

It was Vincent's turn to gape, although he recovered a lot faster and had no compunctions about voicing out his demands. "Tell me!"

"Yes, yes, in good time," Odine withdrew something from his voluminous sleeves and moved to Cloudy, who was silently staring at the two of them with something akin to discombobulation in his eyes. "Turn around, boy," he told the cadet, who looked like he wanted to question the command for a second before turning around slowly.

Odine jabbed the needle into the back of his neck and he crumpled to the ground. Almost, anyway, because Vincent the Hellmasker was there to catch him.

"What was that for?" he snarled, really snarled at the professor. The ground shook a little at the sound of his anger.

"He cannot hear this," Odine said resolutely, keeping the syringe back into wherever he had drew it from.

"Why not?" Vincent frowned. "What's the solution you were talking about?"

Odine told him.

And Vincent understood.

**x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x**  
**12dec2012**


	20. Chapter Seventeen

**Standard disclaimers apply.**

**x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x**  
**WHEN YOU WISH UPON A MATERIA**  
**x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x**  
**CHAPTER SEVENTEEN**

"The mission is cancelled," Sephiroth announced, once everyone was assembled.

'What?!' Cloud actually shouted in his mind.

Sephiroth gave him an evil eye, and would have looked rather intimidating had there not been a phoenix roosting on his head. "Something urgent has cropped up," he added extra emphasis to the word 'urgent', "and all of you have been reassigned to your new posts. Dismissed!" His tone left no room for arguments. 'Lobby,' he said to Cloud over the telepathic link as he turned and walked away from the scene.

"Yes!" Zax suddenly punched a fist into the air, earning him a few curious glances from Cloud and the other cadets. He beamed at them, then trapped Cloud in a headlock and navigated him away from the rest. "Are we still on tonight?" he asked, suddenly serious.

Cloud had yet to recover from the mission cancellation. "Tonight?" was all he could manage in the meantime.

"Yeah, you know? The wagon?" Zax grinned.

"Oh," Cloud blinked. "Didn't you finish that last night?"

"Who told you that?" Zax laughed. "Okay well, I did intend to, but the captain refused to lend me the magazine, so I'm gonna try again later. I'll get the book, don't worry! So you gotta help me tonight like you promised!"

"Uh-huh," Cloud nodded, not knowing what else to say. "Sure...?"

Zax grinned, released him, and gave him one final pat on the shoulder. "I'll call you!" he said as he dashed towards the elevator.

Cloud allowed his mind to wander around for a couple of seconds, before grabbing it and forcing it back to the present. He glanced at the other cadets who were loitering around, checking their phones for their new mission assignments. Remembering Sephiroth's message, he took his out and checked it for anything new as well.

There was a message from Mission Control Centre about his new assignment, which was to meet at the lobby at 0745 hours, which was three minutes ago. He remembered that Sephiroth had mentioned the lobby over the mind-link earlier as well. Scrolling down, he saw that the next message was from the Sephiroth fan club (how did they get his phone number?) detailing the brands of shampoos Sephiroth used for his hair.

Cloud deleted the second message and headed for the lobby.

On his way down, he managed to compose himself somewhat. Okay, Nibelheim wasn't happening today. Or any time soon, it seemed. But if Nibelheim hadn't happened, none of the chain of events - unpleasant though they may have been - that would lead to him being the future him would ever come to fruition, and wouldn't that be an absolutely bad experiment to conduct on his account? Then again, would he even be able to switch with younger self back before the mission started? Dread pooled at the pit of his stomach, getting heavier and heavier as the elevator came closer to the ground floor. And when he stepped out of the elevator into the lobby, Sephiroth was already there, waiting for him.

"Five minutes late, cadet," Sephiroth said, but it was without malice. He gestured for Cloud to follow him and they were on their way.

'How are they?' Cloud decided to start with the most innocent-sounding question as they walked. When he was graced with silence for a reply, he continued, 'Sorry I wasn't there yesterday. Someone was following me, and I couldn't shake them off no matter what I did.'

This time, Sephiroth gave him an amused sidelong glance. 'A Turk was following you,' he said knowingly. 'Tseng told me. And he told me to keep an eye on you as well. He's starting to have his suspicions.'

'I knew he was somehow involved,' Cloud mind-muttered. 'I swear I didn't do anything.'

'Tseng aside,' they were making a few complicated turns down a maze of alleyways now, 'about your two pets-'

'Not my pets.'

'-I did manage to drop by for a brief moment last night, but it was already way past cadet curfew so I knew you couldn't have been there, but thank you for admitting that you hadn't managed to go anyway. Leviathan was hiding in a corner of the room. The dragon, for all intents and purposes, seems to be alive, but wasn't moving either. I would have stayed to monitor the situation, but Tseng summoned me back to HQ to discuss your actions just at that moment. After that, it didn't seem prudent to exit the building again.'

Cloud slowly thought about the entire thing. 'So this is the urgent matter that made you cancel the mission to Nibelheim,' he stated.

'Partly,' Sephiroth clarified. 'And partly because Tseng was not-so-subtly hounding me about keeping tabs on you during our little meeting last night. So I assured him I would arrange something as soon as possible. And made him promise to keep his Turks away. Not that he doesn't already know how much I don't like to be followed.'

Cloud nodded. He knew the Turk who had been following him had not showed up again since he returned to the building last night. Still, he could not help but be impressed by Sephiroth's ability to read situations and act accordingly. The man had single-handedly managed to obtain a legitimate reason to be going on missions with Cloud alone, taking the stalking Turk out of the equation at the same time and creating the perfect opportunity for the two of them to finally head to where the dragon was without surveillance, all the while making it seem like he was actually doing Tseng a favour. 'That was a brilliant move.'

Sephiroth merely quirked his lips slightly at that simple but sincere compliment. 'I would appreciate it if you stopped trying to get Tseng's attention from now on, though.'

'I honestly didn't do anything,' Cloud defended himself again. 'He was the one who wanted me to accompany him to check on some scuffle in Sector 7 last night.'

'Ah, the one that ended with him sending an AVALANCHE spy back to the HQ. Heidegger's been having kittens the whole morning over that.' They had reached the same secluded dead-end Sephiroth had led them to that night of the Presidential speech. In the bright daylight, the hole was actually not as obvious as Cloud had once thought it would be. The tall walls and haphazardly stacked crates that surrounded it camouflaged it almost perfectly.

Sephiroth dispelled the invisible barrier temporarily. Once they were in the semi-metallic chamber, he set the barrier up again, and they continued their conversation. Out loud.

"So are we ever going to go on that Nibelheim mission?" Cloud asked as casually as he could. He looked around for Leviathan. He spotted the dragon first, as it was sleeping quite near the pond. Leviathan had managed to hide in a corner where the fire materia's glow didn't light up, so it took him slightly longer to locate it.

"Probably not," Sephiroth's answer surprised Cloud so much, he stopped walking to Leviathan and turned around to gawk. Sephiroth was checking the dragon, so he didn't notice Cloud's astonishment. "The request actually came from the Science Department. I've been pushing it off for quite a while, until I ran out of excuses. Tseng's sending of a spy back to HQ and his insistence that I watch over you gave me the perfect excuse to finally postpone it indefinitely." At this, he turned and looked at Cloud. "I know your records say you're from Nibelheim, but that's just a cover, isn't it, magical race person?" he joked, with a downright evil-looking grin on his face.

Cloud was doing his very best to keep his features unchanging and thoughts blocked. "Whatever you say..." he eventually managed. He turned and continued his way to Leviathan, deciding that he needed to put his mind on something else for now.

Leviathan was curled up in a ball. Its scales and watery body shimmered in the flickering light, indicating it was still alive and moving ever so slightly. Cloud crouched down to have a closer look at the summon, wondering what could be the problem. He reached out and touched its body, surprised that it was stony and dusty despite the glossy outlook. He'd manhandled the summon a few times, but it never felt like this. The summon was usually squishy and slightly cool. He settled down in front of the sleeping Leviathan, thinking.

Sephiroth soon appeared beside him. "It looks like a status effect," he remarked, after a while.

'Status effect?' Cloud thought to himself. Something struck him, and he quickly leaned forward to touch Leviathan's body again. Now that Sephiroth mentioned it, this did looked and felt like a status effect. It seemed different from what he was familiar with, but that could have been because Leviathan was a summon and not native to the planet. There was only one status effect that fit Leviathan's current condition. "Petrification..." he concluded, slightly horrified. "A slow-numb, at that... That's not possible. There are no monsters that can cast Stone Stare around here, are there?" he asked.

Sephiroth shook his head. "Not on the records, at least."

'So who or what could have done this?' Cloud thought to himself again.

"Regardless, I believe we should try to lift the petrification first," Sephiroth replied, out loud.

"I don't have a Remedy with me," Cloud shook his head. He traced his finger along the petrification of Leviathan's body. "It's almost half petrified. Where's the nearest item store from here?"

Sephiroth gave it some thought. "Wallmarket, Sector 5."

Cloud had to consciously stop himself from gagging. "Err... next nearest?"

"Neither you nor I would be able to make it back in time to stop the petrification if we go any further," Sephiroth helpfully informed him. "I could try to get something from HQ, but if someone stops me while I'm inside, I might not be able to come out again."

"Then I'll go," Cloud rose to his feet. "You have a Cure materia with you, right?" When Sephiroth nodded, Cloud continued, "Please try to keep it alive until I can return."

Sephiroth nodded again. Once that was settled, Cloud ran towards the hole in the roof, meaning to climb out. A flash of red zipped past him, forcing him to stop. It was Phoenix, and the bird spread its wings out to cover the hole, chirping something at an extraordinarily fast speed.

"This is no time to be playing rivalry games with Leviathan," Cloud admonished the summon, who actually developed a look of slight chagrin, before resuming its chirping.

"I believe it's saying that it has a better idea, or something along that line," Sephiroth translated.

Phoenix did not wait for Cloud to probe further. It swooped down and landed on its feet beside Cloud. Then it pecked at one of his pockets. Chirped. Pecked. Chirped. Pecked.

Cloud could understand this even without the resident Bird expert doing a translation. He reached into that pocket and took out the only thing that was inside - a magic materia. "What the... how did that get in there?"

"I'm very interested in the answer to that question as well," Sephiroth was looking intently at the materia. 'Have you been stealing company resources under my nose, cadet?' The accusation had a light tone to it.

'I think I would have remembered if I was stealing something,' Cloud retorted. A memory struck him. 'This was the materia you threw to me when we were checking those boxes a couple of days ago, I think. I slipped it into my pocket with the intention of returning it afterwards, but... the Dirac Sea happened.'

Sephiroth smirked. "Yes, I remember that particular incident," he nodded. "Is that a Heal materia?" he asked.

"Wouldn't that be convenient," Cloud mumbled to himself. He activated the materia, and his eyes widened. "It IS a Heal materia."

Phoenix chirped proudly.

"'I told you so!'" Sephiroth translated.

Cloud ignored the duo in favour of immediately casting Esuna on Leviathan. After the flash of light faded, the stony glow on Leviathan's skin softened. He reached out to touch the summon's body again, finding that it was slowly returning to its original squishiness. He hadn't felt so relieved since coming back to the past.

"Is Leviathan all right?" asked Sephiroth.

"Not yet, but it'll be," Cloud replied. He stood up and turned. "What about the dragon?"

Sephiroth tilted his head in the direction of the golden dragon. "It appears to be just sleeping, but you can never be too sure." He started walking towards the dragon, followed by Cloud. Together, they observed the curled up dragon hatchling. It was breathing, its tail even fidgeting slightly every now and then.

Cloud looked at the Heal materia in his hands, then at Sephiroth, who nodded. "Just in case, then," he said, and knelt down to cast Esuna on the dragon as well. They waited for a bit, but the dragon did not so much as stir. "I guess that rules that out."

"Most interesting," Sephiroth had folded his arms across his chest and appeared to be in deep thought. "I'll have to look up further about the biology of dragons, though to my knowledge, no one has ever conducted an in-depth study of these fascinating creatures."

'I wouldn't call a creature that can kill me by sitting on me fascinating,' Cloud grumbled in his mind.

'This one's not quite big enough to sit on you yet,' Sephiroth pointed out. It was true. The hatchling was a mere forearm's length.

Cloud gave him a frustrated look. Out loud he said, "I don't know what else could be wrong. Maybe it's really sleeping. We had dragons in Nibelheim, and they could sleep for years if they wanted. At least, that's what the hunters say." When he saw Sephiroth staring at him questioningly, he added, "I did live in Nibelheim. Not all my life, but a fraction of it at least."

And he wasn't lying, all things considered.

"It should be safe to leave the dragon here," Sephiroth then said. "We may have to send some food in occasionally, through Leviathan or Phoenix, but once it's ready, it will fly out by itself."

"I've been thinking about that," Cloud said. "What if someone sees it flying out? This may be a hidden place, but it's still in the middle of Midgar after all."

"Dragons can fly much faster than a helicopter," Sephiroth simply replied. "For that matter, much faster than the time it would take for someone to see it, report it to Shinra, and then for the Turks to get a helicopter ready."

'True,' Cloud conceded in his mind, nodding to indicate that he agreed.

"You don't have to keep talking in your head, you know," Sephiroth sounded very amused.

'I wasn't...' Cloud stopped himself. "I wasn't... I didn't mean to." He closed his eyes and sighed. "Sorry."

Sephiroth raised an eyebrow. "Whatever for?"

Cloud started shaking his head. "Nevermind," he sighed again. Then suddenly straightened.

There was a pair of golden eyes looking very closely at him.

He moved back instinctively to put distance between himself and the new creature. Except, it wasn't a new creature. It was the dragon that had been sleeping.

'I think this may actually be a good time to start talking in my head,' Cloud mind-said.

'Indeed,' Sephiroth actually agreed. He was looking at the dragon and taking special care not to make a move before the dragon did. 'I think I know who cast that Stone Stare on Leviathan.'

The moment he said that, Cloud understood as well. 'It's a skill peculiar to dragons. Of course.' Then he sobered up slightly from his discovery. 'It's not going to cast it on us too is it?'

'So far so good,' Sephiroth's eyes never left the dragon that had gotten onto its four feet by now. It slowly widened its mouth, and both soldiers quickly got into defensive stances, hand on their respective weapons.

But the dragon closed its mouth and nothing else happened.

'A yawn...?' Cloud questioned, feeling foolish. He relaxed slightly, but still held the cadet rifle loosely in his hands.

The dragon sat down on its stomach, curling its legs into its body like a little cat, and flapped its little wings. It looked up at the two humans with its large, inquisitive eyes.

'Perhaps it can sense that we do not mean it harm,' Sephiroth had was out of his defensive stance as well.

'That's nice,' Cloud still could not bring himself to take his eyes off the dragon, fearing that he might be turned into stone if he let his guard down.

At this point of time, Leviathan, sufficiently recovered from its petrification, floated over to join them.

Immediately the dragon was up on its feet and growling at the water snake. Leviathan actually dove for cover behind Cloud, only daring to peek over his shoulders. Cloud glanced at Leviathan, then at the growling dragon. 'What did you do?' he asked the summon.

The summon tried to explain.

'Ugh,' Cloud shook his head. 'Just show me.'

And Leviathan did.

When Leviathan had arrived at the place after departing from the helicopter, the first thing it did was to spit the egg out.

The egg fell to the ground and smashed into a thousand smithereens.

Needless to say, the dragon inside was not amused.

And neither was Cloud, once he had determined what the cause of Leviathan's petrification was. 'You deserved that,' he scoffed.

Off to a side, Sephiroth was hiding his face in a palm and laughing softly to himself. He had seen the images as well, through the mind-link.

'You're all annoying me,' Cloud declared. 'Get outside and wait there, Leviathan,' he commanded.

Leviathan made weepy sounds, but obeyed. Once it was out of the dragon's sight, the dragon quieted and sat back down.

They let the dragon observe them with its fiery golden eyes until it was either satisfied, bored, or both, and turned away to look at the other parts of the chamber.

'I think we're no longer needed here,' Sephiroth took that as their cue. 'Let's join Leviathan.'

Cloud nodded to that suggestion. Once they were outside, Sephiroth checked his phone for the time. "We will be leaving Midgar soon. Before that, we should probably get some supplies ready," he was already starting to walk.

"Where are we going?" Cloud followed, slightly confused.

"Have you forgotten we're supposed to be on a mission where I can 'keep tabs' on you?" Sephiroth asked, eyes never leaving the road before him. They came to a crossroads and he examined the signboard, eventually deciding to take the road leading to Sector 6. "We're going to look for Genesis," he finished.

Cloud groaned, both out loud and in his head. 'Not again!' Before he could actually voice out his displeasure, though, his phone rang. He retrieved it from his pocket and saw that it was Zax. He pressed the answer button and put the phone to his ear. "Hello?"

"Cloud!" Zax wasted no time with formalities. And he was so loud, even Sephiroth could hear him, coming to a stop and turning around to look at Cloud on the phone. Cloud stopped as well, gesturing that he was going to need some time for this. Sephiroth nodded curtly, walking over to a building a small distance away and waiting there instead. On the phone, Zax continued, "Where the heck are you?"

"I'm on a mission," Cloud sighed. "Not everyone is on vacation like you."

"My vacation ended when I got called for that Nibelheim mission... no wait. That's not what I called you for! Cloud, we have to meet! I can't tell you this over the phone... but there's no one else I can talk to about it right now! Where are you?"

The fluster and outright frustration was evident in Zax' voice. Cloud wondered what the matter could be, because he sounded really, really upset. Almost like that time with Angeal. Cloud glanced at Sephiroth, who was staring at something in the sky. "I'm still in Midgar, so I'll try to negotiate with my superior officer for some time off, but no promises," he said, a little cautiously.

"Ditch him if you can't convince him! This is more serious!" Zax was almost yelling now. "Let's meet at the Wallmarket diner in half an hour, okay? Please?"

To say that Cloud was surprised would be an understatement. Had Zax ever demanded, even semi-demanded him to do anything? Not that he could remember. That was apparently how serious the matter that was bothering Zax was. What kind of friend would he be if he turned him down? "All right," Cloud nodded, even though he knew Zax wouldn't see it. "I'll be there."

Zax let out a sigh of great relief over the phone. "Thanks, buddy."

After a few more seconds of awkward pleasantries, Cloud hung up. He walked over to Sephiroth, scratching his head sheepishly. "Err... Zax wants to meet up with me. It sounds really serious. Can we go to Wallmarket for about an hour or so? This mission isn't time-sensitive or anything, I hope?"

Sephiroth simply shook his head to indicate no. He was silent for what seemed like a few long moments. "You may go meet him alone," he eventually said. "I will get our supplies ready and see you at the Sector 6 city entrance when you're done."

"Oh, okay," Cloud blinked. That was a lot easier than he thought. He was half expecting Sephiroth to insist on coming along, this being Zax and everything. "See you then," he made to walk off.

"Wait," Sephiroth held a hand out to stop Cloud. With a perfectly poker face, he continued, "If Zax wants to know what I intend to do, you may tell him. If he asks to see me, you may bring him," the sombre look in Sephiroth's eye was somewhat chilling, to say the least. "If he asks," Sephiroth repeated.

Cloud nodded very slowly, carefully filing the instructions away for later use. "I'll do as you say," he reassured the General, who had suddenly taken to staring at Cloud's left forearm. Even though Cloud wasn't entirely sure what was going on, he was starting to have a rather bad feeling about things.

"What's that?" Sephiroth was frowning, eyes still on Cloud's left forearm, which was slightly exposed because he had the habit of rolling up his uniform sleeves to his elbows.

Cloud looked down at his left forearm, noticing the long scar that travelled from the tip of his elbow to just above his left palm. "The scar?" Cloud asked. "What do you mean? I've always had it."

"Did you...?" Sephiroth's frown deepened. "Since when?"

Cloud tried to think of how he had gotten the scar, but nothing concrete would emerge from his memories. This time, it was his turn to frown. He looked at the scar, tracing the grooves with his fingers. Nothing. He could remember nothing related to the scar. Yet somewhere in his heart, he knew he'd always had it.

Beside him, the floating Leviathan hissed softly. This shook him from his reverie. "I'll tell you later," Cloud said as he took off down the path to Sector 5. "Zax is gonna strangle me if I'm late!"

Sephiroth watched him run. Finally, he shrugged and turned away to go down his own path.

Yet another page on his ever-increasing internal folder of Cloud mysteries.

Which he would solve. One day. And they were going to have plenty of time for that after today.

**x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x**  
**12dec2012**


	21. Chapter Eighteen

**Standard disclaimers apply.**

**x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x**  
**WHEN YOU WISH UPON A MATERIA**  
**x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x**  
**CHAPTER EIGHTEEN**

"Sephiroth has deserted!" Zax announced.

Cloud's drink caught in his throat and he spat it all out. He even managed to upturn his entire glass in the event. Thankfully, it was all just plain water. Grabbing a napkin from the side of the table and wiping the residue liquid off his face, he finally managed, "Are you serious?!"

Zax nodded gravely, not a tinge of jest on his face or in his demeanour. He picked up his drink and took a long gulp.

"But we just saw him at the mission briefing!"

Zax sighed. "He sent a message to the brass and all the SOLDIERs after that."

"It could be fake," Cloud had taken more napkins and was cleaning up the spill on the table.

"So we broke into his office to find his phone there with a handwritten letter to the President saying the same thing."

"Oh," Cloud stopped wiping the spill. What in the world was going on? He was pretty sure Sephiroth had just told him, like half an hour ago, before they split up, that they were going on a mission to find Genesis. He'd even received a message from Mission Control Centre to that effect. "Who operates the MCC sending out missives to the military?" he suddenly asked.

"What?" Zax was slightly jarred by the seemingly off-topic question. "Any of the directors," he answered. "Sephiroth probably could, too, since he was taking over Lazard's position for a while. Why?"

Cloud said nothing, only taking his phone out and showing the message he had received to Zax. "This is supposed to be my new mission. The one I'm currently on. My superior officer - the one you asked me to ditch, remember? - is Sephiroth."

This time, it was Zax who upturned his drinking glass. In fact, he had risen to full height and was staring at Cloud with extremely wide eyes. "You were with him?" he asked in a whisper. "Where is he?"

Cloud shook his head. He didn't say anything, remembering the very specific instructions Sephiroth had given him. Had the man really deserted the company that had made him who he was? "Show me the message he sent," Cloud demanded.

Wordlessly, Zax flipped his phone open and navigated to the message in question. Then he handed the phone to Cloud, who took a long look. "I must leave for an indefinite period of time to attend to a personal matter. Pursue me if you wish. However, should any attempt to retrieve me be made, I will have no choice but to act in self-defence," he read out loud in an undertone. "What the?"

"Exactly!" Zax gestured wildly. "The Directors are all livid! Only President Shinra's being calm about this entire thing. Said something about treating it like Sephiroth's on extended vacation..." He grabbed Cloud. "If you know where he is, tell me!"

Cloud looked at Zax in the eye. His friend was genuinely concerned about his fellow 1st. "I'm afraid I can't tell you where he is, Zax," he said, sadly. "You're not asking the right questions," he decided that a hint was in order.

The SOLDIER fell silent at that statement. He sat back down, thinking. After a while, he looked up and searched for something on Cloud's face. He took a deep breath and began, "So you can't tell me where he is... but can you tell me why he deserted the company?"

Cloud actually smiled a little at that. "Yes, I can. He's going to look for Genesis," he answered.

"Genesis... Oh," Zax slapped his forehead. "Now I see."

"See what?"

Zax took another swig from his cup. "They've issued a KOS for Genesis," he started explaining. "Sephiroth was already against it to begin with, so he wasn't entirely happy when they made it official. Come to think, we just had that conversation about loyalty to the company versus loyalty to self before... I can't believe I didn't see it coming."

"What's a KOS?" asked Cloud.

"Kill on sight," Zax answered automatically, and a little too listlessly. He kept drinking from his cup until he emptied it. "S'cuse me, more water here please!"

"You sure you don't need something stronger?" Cloud joked.

"Ah, please. I'm not supposed to be tempting an underaged cadet with alcohol. Water is just fine," Zax laughed. The waiter came around to pour out more water for them. A little while later, the chef placed their food before them from over the counter.

Cloud decided not to point out to Zax that he wasn't actually sixteen. "Why can't Sephiroth look for Genesis as a Shinra military man? If he finds him, he can just choose to not kill him, right?"

Zax was already wolfing down his food. He swallowed and snorted, "KOS means KOS, kiddo. You kill the guy whether or not he's doing anything remotely dangerous, or Shinra kills you for going against orders. Sephiroth doesn't want to do that to Genesis. And since Shinra's going to hunt him down either ways, I think he'd rather be able to move around freely while searching. He wants to talk to Genesis... I think."

"What a great idea that would be," Cloud mumbled, remembering that the most of the conversations he'd had with that man had been mostly one-sided. With Genesis talking practically all the time, of course. He poked at the food on his plate. "Look, I don't think Sephiroth intends to desert. I mean, he did leave a message."

"There are procedures for such things, and leaving a cryptic message tantamount to a resignation letter behind is not one of them," Zax sighed. "He should know. He's the General and stand-in Director."

Cloud slowly chewed on his food and his thoughts.

"Okay, what else can you tell me?" Zax had already finished his plate of food by now. "Or rather, what else did he say you could tell me?"

Again, Cloud shook his head. "Actually, he didn't tell me much either. In fact, I didn't even know we were going to be chasing Genesis down until just now."

Zax was staring at Cloud with a frown. "He intends to take you along?"

"So it would seem..."

"Did he tell you why?"

"No..."

The SOLDIER leant slightly backwards on his bar stool, fiddling with his drink. "Did he... did he say he didn't want to talk to me?"

Cloud tilted his head to one side. "He didn't say that. In fact, I would venture to say that he probably really wants to talk to you."

"Then why won't he let you tell me where he is?!"

A short silence followed. "Zax," said Cloud, "if you had to leave Shinra for someone very important to you one day, would you tell anyone where you were going?" He waited for an answer, but there was none, so he continued, "I wouldn't. Because my decision to leave was my own, and telling someone still in the organisation my destination would be as good as implicating that person. I'm not saying he's really going to leave Shinra, because I still don't believe it, but I think I understand where he's coming from."

"Well, I don't understand," Zax looked down at the cup in his hands. "And that's why I need to talk to him."

Cloud was this close to rolling his eyes. "I think you two need to talk too."

"Then..."

"But you're not asking the right question."

The SOLDIER pursed his lips. "You can't tell me where he is and you don't know where he's going. Okay, how about: Is he still in Midgar?"

"Buzz!" said Cloud. "No trick questions! I can't tell you anything location related!"

Zax pouted. "That doesn't leave me with a lot of leeway. How was he, anyway?"

Cloud looked at him. "You're asking about his health? Sephiroth? The man who conquered Wutai?"

"I didn't mean how was he physically, I meant demeanour. Did you notice anything off about him? Did he feel... I don't know, unusual or something?"

"Hmm..." Cloud looked upwards as he tried to recall. "Seemed a little rushed, but I don't know him well enough to judge what's usual or not."

"Are you kidding? The great General Sephiroth never rushes!" Zax whacked the poor table a few times. The chef glared at him, and he sheepishly stopped. Turning back to Cloud, he said, "Something's definitely wrong! You gotta take me to him!"

"Yes!" Cloud exclaimed and leapt out of his seat all of a sudden, striking a victory pose. "Finally!" he continued to cry out to no one in particular. Eventually, he noticed that everyone in the shop was goggling at him, so he put his hands down and glared at Zax, as if it was somehow his fault. He nodded towards the exit of the diner, and stomped out spectacularly before anyone could say anything.

Zax was the first to recover. "Uh, yeah, that's my pal," he snickered uneasily. Throwing a stack of gil onto the table, he stood up to leave as well. "Keep the change, boss," he winked at the chef, who was still wide-eyed with surprise. "Sorry for the trouble!"

With that, he exited the diner with style.

Cloud was waiting outside with his arms folded across his chest. Once he heard Zax approaching, he turned and beckoned him to follow. Although confused, Zax complied, assuming Cloud was going to lead them somewhere more private to discuss either his earlier outburst or the matter of Sephiroth. This notion soon fled, however, when he noticed that they just kept on walking. "Are you taking me somewhere, Cloud?"

"What? I thought that was obvious," answered Cloud. "You asked me to take you to Sephiroth, didn't you?"

"Uh... you didn't want to tell me his location, and yet you're taking me there?"

"I have nothing to do with this. He was the one who specifically instructed me to bring you to him only if you asked. Thank goodness you did, or we would've been sitting at that diner for a long, long time," Cloud sighed in relief.

Zax was shaking his head and laughing at the same time. "If he's cheery enough to make stupid demands like that, I guess he should be all right!"

"It's not stupid," Cloud mumbled under his breath. Now that he had a slightly fuller picture, he was aware that Sephiroth was taking a huge, calculated risk by permitting Cloud to bring Zax to him. He still wasn't convinced Sephiroth would desert Shinra, though.

They continued walking in silence for quite a while, until they reached Sector 6. As the sector was still under construction, there wasn't anything much to do there. Also, Cloud noted, there were a lot of hiding places here. They left the noisy construction site and ventured deeper, until they were almost at the city walls.

"I'm disturbed by your silence," Cloud finally said, as they approached the city gate. "Are you all right, Zax?"

In answer, Zax actually cackled. "I'm all right," he said, with a tinge of hysteria in his voice. "I'm all right, all right... Or at least, I will be, once I see that sorry excuse of a superior..." Noticing that Cloud was looking at him like he had grown a wing, he gave the boy a lopsided grin. "Don't worry. I was just thinking of what to say. You sure he'll be there, though? He might've sent you after me and ran away by himself..."

Phoenix was sitting on a huge pile of debris near the city gate. "I'm pretty sure," Cloud confidently stated.

As if on cue, Sephiroth melted away from the shadows into full view of the duo. "Hello Zax," he greeted simply.

The lopsided grin on Zax' face swiftly transformed into a sunny smile that was creeping Cloud out. "Oh, hello there, sir!" Zax saluted as he walked briskly towards the other SOLDIER, until they were face-to-face. "How do you do?"

And then he socked the man in the jaw.

'OMG!?' went Cloud in his head, despite himself. "Zax?!"

Sephiroth simply held a hand out to stop Cloud from saying anymore. In fact, he hadn't even stumbled in the slightest from the attack, almost like he had been expecting it. "Sorry I didn't tell you, but I didn't want to get you involved," he said to Zax.

"Ow..." Zax was trying to shake the pain out of his hand. "For goodness sake... are you made of mythril or what?" he grumbled.

Sephiroth let him compose himself. Then he asked, "Feel better now?"

Zax' first response was to blow some hair away from his face. "Can I go a few more times?"

"Only if you allow me to retaliate."

"You're no fun," the SOLDIER pouted. "I really am angry with you, just so you know."

"I know."

Zax sighed. "Are you really leaving?"

"Yes, I am. I thought we had this conversation before."

"Not in such certain terms!" Zax threw his arms up into the air. "Do you understand what you're doing? You're going to turn yourself into a fugitive! If you haven't already..."

Sephiroth smiled slightly. "You know some things in life are more important than titles and positions." His expression turned serious. "Stay in Shinra, Zax. This is a personal decision of mine and none of your concern."

"Stop that!" Zax exclaimed. "I think I can decide for myself if something is of my concern or not, and I say this concerns me! Don't be an idiot, Sephiroth. Do you really think they'll let me off for your defection, or whatever it is you're doing here? We're the only two Firsts left in the company! They'll be suspicious of me whether I know anything or not! Even worse, now that I do know something!"

The General actually lowered his gaze at that. "Sorry," he simply said.

"Don't bother apologising, I'm not blaming you for anything," Zax waved his hand in a dismissive manner. Then he, too, looked down in dejection. "Why didn't you just tell me? Am I that untrustworthy?"

"This is my battle," was the reply.

"Angeal..." Zax suddenly brought his mentor up, "Angeal... would have wanted me to talk to Genesis too."

Sephiroth was looking very intently at Zax, carefully searching for something in him. "Do you?"

The man pinned Sephiroth with a look. He turned on his heels and walked away for a short distance, then turned on his heels again and walked back. His eyes were brimming with a new sort of determination. "I'm going with you," he stated firmly.

It didn't escape either Cloud or Sephiroth's notice that Zax hadn't exactly answered the previous question. "I will not permit it," Sephiroth narrowed his eyes and rejected him outright.

"I wasn't asking for your permission," Zax had already taken out his Shinra issued phone and was looking at it like he was torn about something. Then, without introduction, he flung it into the air and destroyed it with the Buster Sword. "There," there was glee and satisfaction in his tone. "We'd better hurry, though. They should've traced us to this location by now."

"Zax..." Sephiroth started, but trailed off.

"Oh, hey, Zax," Cloud took out his phone as well. "Can you trash this one too, while you're at it?"

"With pleasure," Zax grinned, and used his sword to smack the phone into bits. "You know, for all that high and mighty talk about not involving someone from the company in your little coup, you're not very sorry about dragging Cloud into this whole mess, are you?"

"I was going to make it look like I kidnapped him," Sephiroth sighed, "but both of you just had to go and ruin everything." Suddenly, his expression turned cold. He glanced at the road leading to where they were standing - right in front of the city gate - from the corner of his eyes.

"You hear that too?" Zax asked. He was looking at the road as well. "Sounds like..."

"The march of a battalion of infantrymen," Sephiroth finished the sentence for him. "I'm surprised it took them so little time to organise the troops for an operation."

'Little time?' Cloud thought. 'It's a been a few good hours since you sent out that message. If that was a declaration of war, Midgar would've been levelled by now.'

'Exactly,' Sephiroth thought right back. "We cannot risk crossing swords with the Shinra military at this point of time, so let's go going."

While nobody outwardly disagreed with his suggestion, Cloud asked in silence, 'Why not, though? The both of you together would be a force to reckon with. If you like, I can even send Leviathan in for some invisible backup.'

'It's too much of a hassle,' Sephiroth explained. 'If nothing, it will waste precious time, enough for them to send in the SOLDIERs next. I assure you, not every SOLDIER in the company thinks highly of me enough to not act on company orders to get rid of me if the chance arises. It would be quite embarrassing if they caught me before I even stepped out of Midgar.'

'I see,' Cloud thought, except he didn't really see at all. Nevertheless, he agreed with him on one point, and that was they would be achieving nothing by being trapped here.

"How do you open this gate?" Zax' question almost made Cloud jump out of his skin. He had forgotten that Zax was not privy to their mind-link.

Sephiroth took his phone out and starting keying commands into it. "Unlike some people, I actually do have a mind to look ahead."

"But you left your phone behind..." protested Zax.

"Yes, and I stole an executive's on the way down." The commands were successfully input, and he aimed the screen of the phone at the digital lock panel embedded beside gates.

While Sephiroth tackled the lock and Zax looked on, Cloud allowed himself to turn around and look at the path they had come from. The contingent was getting closer, if the loud heavy stomping was to be believed. "How long is this going to take?" he threw the question at the two behind him without looking back.

"Phone lock deciphering is quite slow," Zax was the one who answered, Sephiroth probably concentrating on ensuring his hand didn't slip. "Maybe a minute or so?"

"We'd all be toast by then," Cloud simply said. He gave the Leviathan that was floating beside him a look. 'Go to our pursuers,' he commanded. 'Show yourself to them. Intimidate them and buy us some time, but don't kill anyone!'

Leviathan was so extremely pleased, Cloud could feel its pleasure without even concentrating on reading it. The snake slid through the air and disappeared beyond a twist in the makeshift road of hard-packed soil. Right after that, he saw that Phoenix had followed as well.

When he turned around to look questioningly at Sephiroth, the SOLDIER subtly shrugged. 'It's still yours, you know. I think it prioritises your orders above mine.'

Just at that moment, Leviathan flashed bright white and transformed into its proper summon size. When Zax whipped around to stare at the summon with unabashed horror splashed across on his face, Cloud knew for sure that Leviathan had revealed itself. Then Phoenix showed itself as well, and Zax actually took a step back. "What the...?!" he gasped. "Did they bring summons along with them? Are they trying to destroy Midgar?"

Screams could be heard in the distance, along with the sound of fire and water. The coordinated footsteps of a marching army suddenly turned into that of chaotic running. "Don't worry, Zax," Cloud said, determination in his voice. "They're on our side." He dared to look Zax as he said that, and could see the doubt, confusion, and question in his eyes. "I'll explain," Cloud said, sadly, "I'll explain everything after this."

Interrupting the two friends' moment together was a frustrated General. "This is taking too long," Sephiroth snapped the phone shut and threw it into the city gate. Then he unsheathed the masamune and sliced the phone into two.

Along with the city gate.

The gates wobbled and fell gracefully onto their backs (or was it their fronts?), rousing up a storm of dust where they landed with a loud thud.

Sephiroth calmly sheathed his sword again. "I should've just done that from the start."

"You destroyed company property," Zax was gaping at the fallen doors. Instead of sounding angry, though, he sounded awed and fascinated. "I knew there was a reason why I wanted to follow you!"

Sephiroth ignored him in favour of stepping over the doors and out of the city of Midgar. Cloud and Zax exchanged amused looks, before following. The dust was starting to clear by now, and all three stopped abruptly when they saw the outline of a shadowy figure standing in front of them, just beyond the city gates.

The SOLDIERs immediately got into their fighting stances. A rolling wind blew across the parched land, clearing the last vestiges of dust away to reveal the man in front.

It turned out that Cloud would be the one to identify the man, once the dust had been swept away by the wind.

"Vincent?!"

**x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x**  
**15dec2012**

AN: Hey, well, I know I'm asking you guys to suspend a lot of belief just to even read this story (or any of my others), so please forgive me if I end up interpreting something you may feel strongly about from your experience with the FFVII compilation differently. I assure it, it's not intentional. :)


	22. Chapter Nineteen

**Standard disclaimers apply.**

**x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x**  
**WHEN YOU WISH UPON A MATERIA**  
**x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x**  
**CHAPTER NINETEEN**

Vincent stood in the distance, ramrod straight. He didn't move even after Cloud called his name, his eerie red eyes boring into the three men before him. When he finally did do something, it was to narrow his eyes in seeming displeasure. "Cloud," he said, "what are you doing outside Midgar?"

Hearing Vincent say his name made a wave of relief wash through Cloud. This was the Vincent he knew, and his mere presence made Cloud feel like he was ready to take on the world. Nevermind that he seemed a little angry about something. "It's a long story," Cloud answered with a sigh. "What about you? What are you even doing 'here'?" he stressed the word 'here' because it wasn't just Vincent's being in Midgar that surprised him. It was that he was even in this period of time.

"You've not forgotten what you came 'here' for, have you?" Vincent asked back, putting the same amount of stress on the word 'here' as Cloud had previously did.

He did remember, but remembering it in detail now would reveal his identity to his mind-reader, so he simply said, "I remember."

Vincent continued looking at Cloud wordlessly, showing no signs in either his face or demeanour what he thought of that statement. After what seemed like a really long time, he shifted his weight to one feet and gestured for Cloud to come over.

Sephiroth and Zax both looked at Cloud, awaiting his next step. Cloud nodded at them to reassure them that he would be safe, and walked up to his reticent friend, until he was within an arm's length.

For a few moments, they simply stared at each other, probably revelling in the absurdity of the current situation (So we're both back in the past! Now what?).

Then Vincent said in his distinctive low, raspy voice, "Show me your hand."

The request was so sudden and so out of the world that Cloud's immediate response was to gawp.

Seeing that Cloud appeared stupefied, Vincent reached out and grabbed Cloud's left hand on his own. He turned it slightly so that he could see the skin just above the palm. "Where did you get this?" he asked.

Cloud looked down at his arm. Of course, Vincent was referring to the unsightly scar on it. "I've always had it?" He wasn't really that sure anymore.

"Well then, where and when?" Vincent pressed on, the shadow in his eyes getting darker and darker.

"I... don't remember anything," Cloud finally admitted. "Only that it's always been there."

Apparently, the answer was enough for Vincent to come to a conclusion about something. He didn't let go of Cloud's hand, though he did lower it, and now turned to address the other two men. "General Sephiroth," he said, somewhat colder than usual, "you appear to be having a very bad influence on my son."

Off to a side, Cloud marvelled at how Vincent could actually say that with such a straight face.

"Mr. Valentine," Sephiroth acknowledged the other man with a respectful greeting. "I assure you, I know nothing more about that scar than you do, other than the fact that it seems to have magically showed up within the last couple of days."

"Perhaps, but that was not what I meant," Vincent was looking at Cloud now. "We must return 'home' now," he stated.

"What?" Cloud was surprised by how surprised he felt. "Now? But it's not yet one we... I mean, I haven't become SOLDIER yet," he managed to remember their cover story in the nick of time.

The tensed aura surrounding Vincent was absolutely palpable. "You HAVE forgotten what you're here for."

At this point of time, Cloud was pretty sure he would be regretting what he would next say, but found that he really couldn't bring himself to care anymore. First of all, he really wanted Vincent to believe him. Secondly, what else could he mess up, right? "Do you mean Leviathan? Yes, I remember Leviathan. Have you found a way to send it back?" He didn't fail to notice that Sephiroth was immediately attentive, judging from the glint in his eye and the sudden surge of interest coming in through the mind-link.

"Professor Odine supposes so," said Vincent, causing Cloud to raise his brows in disbelief. Was Vincent saying it was all right to let the SOLDIERs know about the future? Not that mentioning Odine's name made that mandatory or anything, though. "However, we need to have a 'family conference' about this before we decide to do anything." Wait, 'family conference?' So they were sticking with the cover story? Make up your mind, my friend, Cloud wanted to say. He kept his thoughts carefully concealed behind the thickest mental wall he could muster.

"Can we just get away from here first?" Cloud sighed. "Leviathan and Phoenix aren't going to be able to hold the troops back for much long without killing anyone."

"We shall do that right away," Vincent agreed. He looked at Sephiroth and said, "Thank you for taking care of Cloud all this time. Farewell."

With a flap of his cape, which instantly transformed into Chaos' bat wings, he took off into the air, taking Cloud along with him.

The two SOLDIERs watched with unconcealed surprise as the red dot that was Vincent (and Cloud, somewhere) continued flying off into the distance. The entire thing had happened so quickly, they hadn't even had the time to protest.

"Who was that?!" Zax exclaimed, when he finally found his voice.

"His father," Sephiroth answered, "or so the story goes."

"What?!" A pause. "Sorry, but... I don't see the family resemblance at all... Wait a darned minute. Did he just FLY away?! With WINGS?!"

"Stop abusing punctuation marks, Zax," Sephiroth chided in good humour. "I know you have questions. I have them too, and I suppose we'll have them answered in good time. Once we find them, that is."

The other SOLIDER snorted. "Like how? Can you fly? Huh?"

"No, but I know two creatures that can..." Sephiroth slowly turned around to look at the two battling summons. He issued a mind-command to them. 'Come!'

Immediately, the two summons ceased their attacks and flew over to Sephiroth. Leviathan actually started looking around, noticing that someone was missing. It hissed in confusion.

For the benefit of Zax, Sephiroth decided to relate his next commands out loud. "Leviathan," he called, and the snake turned to look at him. "Follow Cloud, but do not teleport!"

Leviathan, still in actual summon size, hissed in approval and flapped its enormous fins, soaring into the air after its master. The resultant backlash of wind blew off some of Midgar's city walls. Sephiroth waited until Leviathan was a distance away before turning to Phoenix, which had remained in its compact peacock size. It looked up expectantly at Sephiroth, awaiting his command.

The thing was, Sephiroth had been secretly experimenting with his shiny new summon to see what it could do, eventually ending up developing an efficient system of communication between the two of them. Phoenix was now a well-trained bird that was conditioned to a system of militaristic commands.

"Transform," Sephiroth simply said, and Phoenix spread its wings. A bright light engulfed it as it trilled loudly. When the light receded, summon size Phoenix towered over the two SOLDIERs. Zax took a few steps back from the creature out of sheer reflex, but Sephiroth stood his ground, never so much as wavering. "Down," he commanded, and the bird sat down. "Wing," the bird spread a single wing out so that it formed a ramp up to its back. Sephiroth now turned to address Zax, saying, "Get on!"

"Say what?" Zax exclaimed. He was about to ask another question, but the rattling of machine guns and rifles stopped him short. The Shinra army had managed to get their act together after the summons left, and they were now arranged in shooting formation against the two SOLDIERs, firing at will.

"Save the questions for later," Sephiroth had already hopped onto Phoenix' back and was kneeling on one leg there. He cast a Barrier all around the large summon. "Get on!"

Zax didn't need to be told thrice. He dashed towards the bird, ran up the wing, and managed to somehow settle himself down between the plumage before Phoenix suddenly gave a shrill shriek and launched itself into the air, knocking quite a few Shinra infantrymen over in its wake.

As they sailed through the air, the SOLDIERs kept on looking over their shoulders at what they were leaving behind. From overhead, it was easy to see that a considerable amount of military men had been sent to subdue them. Heidegger may have been incompetent, but he wasn't stupid. He had organised this group with the intent to capture or kill. For all that talk about letting Sephiroth do what he wanted, Zax thought to himself, Shinra was still a vicious, no-good, back-stabbing, two-faced despot after all. And had they been tracking his phone because they knew he'd try to get in touch with the General?

"Heroes don't work for companies like that!" Zax whispered, mostly to comfort himself. He looked ahead, where Sephiroth was. The other man had turned away from the rapidly vanishing city of Midgar before Zax did, and he was now staring intently at the slithering form of Leviathan that was right ahead. "Where to now, sir?" Zax asked, noticing that the Barrier spell cut out most of the roaring winds passing them by so that he was able to speak without raising his voice. In fact, without the Barrier spell, he was certain they would've both fallen to their deaths by now.

"Phoenix will follow Leviathan, who is following Cloud," Sephiroth replied. "Just hang on until then."

Zax suddenly burst out laughing, causing Sephiroth to turn around and regard him quizzically. "I-It's nothing," he wheezed through snickers. "I was just thinking... I mean, look at us. The only two first class SOLDIERs Shinra has left, and we're absconding like Midgar's on fire." He wiped a tear from his eye. "I wonder how the Shinra propaganda machine's gonna be spinning this one?"

"Trust you to be thinking about something like that," Sephiroth shook his head, but there was a small smile on his face. "It looks like we may be heading for Kalm Town," he announced.

"Whew," Zax sighed in relief. "I almost thought we'll be flying all day and night to Nibelheim! Kalm, huh?" He gave it some thought. "At least the wine's good there."

Phoenix started singing a throaty song that resounded through the low hills of the Midgar and Kalm area. As they were moving northeast, the sun was slowly setting behind them. It had been an eventful day for both men, and the soft, orange glow provided the perfect setting for retrospection - something the both of them were taking advantage of, if the silence was any indication. Neither would say another word until they reached their destination, which was indeed Kalm Town, but for now, the comfortable silence would stretch, as the shadows did over the vast terrain of the planet.

In the meantime, Cloud and Vincent had landed somewhere near Kalm.

"Vincent!" Cloud finally found his voice, having been unable to do so when the winds had drowned him out earlier. "What's going on here?"

Vincent transformed his wings back into the cape and shook his head, pointing to town. "We will speak in the inn," was all he would say. He started walking, so Cloud, although hesitant at first, eventually followed. He knew the man always meant what he said, and that he always had good reason for doing whatever he did. Also, it was really pointless trying to discuss something as serious as what had just happened out in the open field anyway.

Soon, they found themselves in an upper room of the Kalm Inn. Cloud looked around the room, remembering that Vincent had made Kalm his base of operations some time after the events of the remnants. He wasn't surprised that he seemed to be using it again, probably for the familiarity. Vincent had retired into a corner of the room while Cloud was examining the room, and was brooding about something.

Finally, Cloud turned to his friend and asked, "Now can you tell me what's going on?"

Vincent looked up when he was addressed. Without any introduction whatsoever, he launched directly into the heart of the matter. "It all started, I suppose, when your younger self woke up in the future, during the attack of the rebels that cut our communication off. He received a wound to his left arm that we didn't manage to treat in time. That is the explanation of that scar on your arm."

Out of sheer reflex, Cloud looked down at his left arm. The scar stared back at him, taunting him. "I don't remember any of that at all."

"If so, Professor Odine's theory may not be completely accurate," Vincent had taken to pacing up and down the room now. "He theorised that whatever happens to younger you will affect older you, including memories of events. Apparently, this only applies to the physical aspect, and do you know what that means?" He whirled around to face Cloud.

"It means I may disappear if something happens to my younger self to disrupt the flow of events that makes him who I am, without even knowing about it, right?"

"I see you've been thinking about this as well," Vincent nodded. Then he sighed softly and proceeded to perch on the windowsill. "We cannot risk letting that happen. You mustn't get too attached to the past, Cloud. The unknowns in this experiment are too frightening to take lightly."

"Vincent," Cloud had pulled a seat out from the table in the corner and made himself comfortable in it. "I need to tell you something very important."

The other man gave him a look that said, 'Continue.'

"Well, today was supposed to be the day of the Nibelheim mission... and it was cancelled."

"...Which Nibelheim mission?"

"How many Nibelheim missions do you think I went on during my time in Shinra?" Cloud had to stop himself from rolling his eyes. "That one. You know? THAT one?"

Vincent narrowed his eyes in understanding. He looked very intently at Cloud, from head to toe and back again. "Why are you still alive?" he asked, matter-of-factly.

"Yes, I've been secretly wondering about that as well, since Sephiroth announced that the mission was cancelled," Cloud leant back on his chair. "I figured... time doesn't stop moving, right? And for every action or event that happens, there are countless ways it could have gone differently, right? In that case, who's to say there won't be another event down the line when something else happens to cause me to... become me again?"

It was sound logic. As logical as time-travelling could sound, anyway. Vincent agreed that there was merit to what Cloud was saying, although it didn't make him any less wary of the current situation. "Your continued existence is a dangerous thing to use as a gamble," Vincent stated. His eyes suddenly shot to something outside the window, and he quickly hopped away from the sill. In the very next moment, his bat wings were back. "Cloud, we're sticking to the cover story. Follow my cue. And deactivate that mind-communication materia right now," he commanded.

Cloud knew better than to argue about that. After all, it had been a harrowing couple of days trying to keep his thoughts and mindscape away from the all too curious eyes of Sephiroth. He did as told. Then he remarked: "I've not seen you manifesting Chaos for a long time. Didn't it return to the Lifestream after the whole Deepground affair?"

"Deepground hasn't happened yet," was the terse reply, and something about the way he had said it made Cloud instantly leery. Years of travelling with Vincent told him that the man was hiding something. There was no leeway for another question, however, because the door to their room burst open right at that point of time, and a grinning Zax barged in unceremoniously.

"Greetings!" Zax yowled. "Betcha didn't think we'd catch up with you so quickly, eh?" He looked around and had to consciously stop himself from jumping backwards. "What the?!"

Of course, the sight of Vincent was the thing causing his dismay. Fairly intimidating enough in his normal human form to begin with, his transformations usually made it worse. Still, he seemed to be trying to drive home the point that they were - what was the story again? - a race of magical creatures or something like that. Cloud sighed to himself, standing up to greet the arriving SOLDIERs. "Hi Zax," he smiled, weakly. "Actually, I didn't think you would be able to even find us."

"You forgot about your loyal follower," another voice came from behind Zax. Before the the owner of that voice could be seen, however, a flying snake (already back to its python-size) slithered into the room and threw itself across Cloud's shoulders before he could react. Sephiroth stepped into the room while they were all distracted by the summon, with peacock-size Phoenix close behind. He calmly shut the door after him. No need to disturb the neighbours, after all.

Once inside, the general took a very quick look at the people in the room, his roving eyes eventually settling on Vincent. "Mr. Valentine," he greeted again. "I apologise for the sudden intrusion. As much as I respect your decision to withdraw Cloud from our presences, I do also believe that you at least owe us some answers to the questions you - the both of you - keep leaving behind." He folded his arms across his chest, as if daring Vincent to deny his request.

"Will you leave us alone if I answer your questions, then?"

"That depends on the answers, don't you think?"

"Very well," Vincent turned to face the SOLDIERs fully. "What questions do you have for us?"

Meanwhile, Cloud was busy pulling chairs out for everyone. "I suspect this is going to take a while," he said, when the others gave him strange looks, "so might as well make yourselves comfortable."

"I'll take the bed!" Zax grinned and leapt onto one of the beds, bouncing up and down on it.

Cloud then looked at Sephiroth with the unspoken question of whether he would like to jump into the other bed like Zax did or not hanging in the air. "I'll take the chair, thank you very much," Sephiroth muttered and threw Zax a glare threatening him to behave his age and species. The glare was ignored.

Vincent settled down on the window sill again, whereas Cloud crept back to the seat he had originally been in before the two SOLDIERs made their appearances. "Go on," Vincent nodded in the general direction of Sephiroth and Zax.

"Can I ask the first question?" Zax raised his hand like a student. Without waiting for the go-ahead, he asked, "Are those wings real?"

"Zax..." Sephiroth warned.

"But it's important!" Zax protested. "If he has wings, and Angeal had wings... one wing, anyway, and Genesis has a wing too... he may know something!"

"I do not know about those people you have just mentioned, but these wings you see are a part of my makeup, which I can freely transform into at will," was Vincent's answer. He spread the wings out slightly to drive home the point, then transformed it back into his distinctive red cape.

"An ability that's a part of your supposed clan, then?" Sephiroth weighed in.

"You speak as if you doubt the veracity of those words," Vincent observed.

"There isn't enough evidence lending support to that theory."

"Well then, you can ask Cloud to show you his wing."

"What?" Cloud was the most surprised of the three to hear that particular sentence. "MY wing?!"

"Yes, you know, the one they gave you in Kingdom Hearts."

"Since when did this fic include Kingdom Hearts?"

"Since it became convenient to advance the plot."

Who could argue with that?

"Do I have to?" Cloud groaned.

"I doubt the General would be very convinced otherwise," Vincent smiled a very evil smile.

Cloud took a deep breath. "Okay," he stood up and turned to a side, a look of determination on his face, "but only for five seconds!"

Without dramatic drum rolls or preparative countdowns, Cloud manifested the single bat wing he'd somehow managed to acquire over his long years of life. (He blames the Lifestream, but we know better.) After silently counting to five seconds, he kept the wing and plunked into his seat again, refusing to meet anybody's eye.

"Does that answer your question?" Vincent broke the silence by asking.

"Yes," the look of shock and disbelief had yet to fully fade from Sephiroth's face even as he said that. "I apologise for the suspicion, but one can never be too sure nowadays."

"Understandable," Vincent nodded. "Perhaps we should tell you something more about ourselves, and why it's so important that you stay away from us.

"The fact is, we have come from the future..."

**x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x**  
**21dec2012**

**every chapter of this crazy fic is dedicated to everyone who enjoys reading it! ;)**


	23. Chapter Twenty

**Standard disclaimers apply.**

**Another short explanatory chapter. Lots of yadda yadda yak yak.**

**x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x**  
**WHEN YOU WISH UPON A MATERIA**  
**x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x**  
**CHAPTER TWENTY**

"For the sake of the sanity of the readers, from this chapter onwards, my name will be Zack," said Zack, as he assumed a victory pose on top of the bed.

"Zack..." Sephiroth frowned disapprovingly at his friend.

"S'ok boss, this part will be removed once the other instances of my name in the other chapters are updated, anyway."

"If you go off-topic one more time, I will personally throw you into a plothole."

After a short while, Zack very slowly sat back on the bed.

"Ahem," Vincent coughed, and the mood in the room turned serious again. "May I continue?"

Sephiroth nodded.

"Vincent..." Cloud said in a warning manner. Vincent simply put a hand up to stop him from continuing. His eyes darted briefly over to Cloud. In it was the confident glint that claimed he was in control. Cloud sighed and leaned back into his seat again. He waved listlessly at his friend, deciding that he really couldn't be bothered anymore.

"As I was saying," Vincent continued in his dreary monotone, "we have come from the future. A future where Cloud did not make it into SOLDIER, and our race was destroyed by certain external forces..."

Oh great, Cloud thought to himself, wanting to slap his forehead in dismay. Vincent was going to combine their fictitious background with the real story! As if it wasn't already complicated enough already. He had a hunch this was what Vincent had in mind, having hung out with the man long enough. Still, it did nothing to lessen the degree of exasperation he was going through right now.

"...making it impossible for Cloud to return. Well, we'll leave out all the sordid details about that particular unpleasant event, if you please. The long and short of it is that Cloud never got to achieve his dream of returning, and we eventually set out to find a way to change that. I should let you know now that our race is rather long-lived compared to you mortals..."

"Vincent!"

"...sorry, humans."

"We ARE humans, Vincent."

"Are we really going to have this conversation now?" Vincent simply gave Cloud a disapproving look.

"Later, then," Cloud grumbled and returned to silence.

Vincent continued, "As I was saying, we are a special race by ourselves. We live much longer than other people due to our innate qualities. In the distant future, time travel is very much possible, although also very restrictive and downright inaccessible to the commonfolk. There's no need to bore you with how we managed to get our hands on a machine to send us back. The point is that when we found a way to return, we decided that we simply had to. Cloud would be able to try for his dream again, and well, we may even prevent the destruction of our race this time."

There was total silence after Vincent's short monologue. Everyone (including Cloud) was trying to digest the information. Or doing their best to keep their facial features in control. It was kind of hard to tell.

It was Sephiroth who broke the silence first by asking with a very straight face, "How does that time machine work?"

And of course, Zack had to interrupt. "Good grief, Sephiroth, you actually believed all that?!"

Cloud silently agreed with Zack, his good ol' pal. Always had his head on right, that man.

"Angeal and Genesis have wings. Why is time travelling any less believable?" Sephiroth simply gave Zack a wry smile. He returned his attention to Vincent. "Well?"

"It exchanges the body of your present self with the body of your past self," said Vincent.

"Why doesn't it just send you back directly?"

"I believe it is to prevent two instances of yourself running around in the same timeline."

"And how are you going to get back once you've more or less achieved what you've set out to do in this timeline?"

"Supposedly, the inventor of the machine will pull us back when everything is ready," Vincent looked down at his feet for a few brief seconds. "However, something has happened in the future we come from, and that is no longer a possibility."

Suddenly, Cloud found himself very interested in the conversation. "What happened to Odine?"

Vincent looked at Cloud in the eye, the expression on his face unreadable. "That was what I needed to talk to you in private about."

In response, Cloud spared both Sephiroth and Zack a quick glance. "If you're going to spoil the whole thing already anyway, why not just tell them as well?"

"Yes, I suppose I should," Vincent said as he flipped his cape dramatically. "Time has collapsed in the future, Cloud. Odine no longer exists, because we cannot return anymore."

Now this was something Cloud hadn't been expecting to hear at all. "What?!" he exclaimed. "What do you mean?"

"The rebels attacked the laboratory building, as I'm sure you heard, destroying much of the equipment in the process. We - that is, your younger self, Odine, and myself - were going to hide ourselves in the government building until the time machine could be fixed, but Odine realised it was too badly damaged to move, and if the machine died, well... it would take him years to build another one... if he could get all the necessary materials to begin with. He had actually come up with a way to send Leviathan back home, but did not inform us because he viewed it as inappropriate and borderline unethical. But with the threat of losing you forever in the past hanging above us, he had no choice but to reveal the plan."

"Wait, what's this about Leviathan?" Zack spoke up, echoing what was going on in Sephiroth's mind as well. For that, he refrained from throwing Zack into a plothole.

Cloud gestured at the summon snake that was draped across his shoulders. Leviathan looked up and flicked its tongue out in Zack's general direction, then relaxed again.

"Ah yes, that would be the story I hadn't wanted to bore you with. You see, to convince Odine to let us use his time machine, we had to use Leviathan as an excuse. We told him we were experimenting with materia-less summoning and the unfortunate result of that was that Leviathan refused to return to his realm after being summoned. We proposed that if he let Cloud return to the past, he would be helping him get rid of the creature. Professor Odine, a kind man by nature, then gave us permission to use the machine."

"It's not really an excuse," Cloud mumbled, but since all present had enhanced hearing, they all heard. "Leviathan's really not keen on going back, and I really did think coming back to the past might be the solution."

"It is part of the solution," Vincent nodded. "The other part is that to completely disrupt the time flow of events that led to Leviathan's summoning, the future has to collapse, and you, Cloud, will have to combine your current existence with that of your past self."

This was starting to get a bit beyond Cloud's comprehension. "You mean I have to kill my younger self?"

"You have to merge existences," Vincent deadpanned, "because there is no longer any future to return to, and to remain in the past you have to be the past."

"I don't understand..."

"What about you," Sephiroth suddenly asked, his question directed towards Vincent. "If you've come back the same way he did, wouldn't you need to do the same thing to remain here as well?"

Vincent did not reply right away. When he eventually did, it was simply to say, "Yes, that's what I did."

"So... you merged with your past self..." Cloud was still trying to unravel the knots. Then it struck him. "Is that why..." his eyes darted briefly to the cape that could transform into Chaos' wings, then to Vincent.

When he realised Cloud was waiting for an answer, Vincent shook his head and said, "I don't know. I was sent back in the same manner you were, except that there was no exchanging of places this time. I distinctly remember seeing myself in my... place of rest. Then all of a sudden, the other 'me' just wasn't there anymore."

"Could it be that one of you had to disappear to accommodate the appearance of the other?" Sephiroth suggested.

"That seems to be to be highly unlikely."

"How can you be so sure?"

Vincent composed his thoughts for a moment. "I had an ability," he began, "that I lost after a while. When I returned, and saw my other self disappearing... I realised I had regained that ability. So the professor was right - I would eventually merge with my former self whether I liked it or not. What would come along with the merging, however, was an unknown he was not willing to risk. Until he had no choice, anyway, like now. And one of the side-effects, apparently, is that certain things you may have gotten rid of before might just make a return."

Sephiroth considered this. "Still, one of you had to disappear," he pointed out.

"Yes," Vincent agreed, "but he didn't disappear into a void, if that's what you're afraid of."

"Wait a minute," Cloud spoke up. "So to merge you'll need to have both of me in the same era or something, right?"

"Your younger self is already here, Cloud."

"Oh." Cloud said. Then, "What?! Where?"

"Nibelheim," Vincent said, vaguely.

"Huh..." Cloud blinked. Then a very bad feeling welled up within him. "Don't tell me..."

Vincent cleared his throat. "He is resting where I used to."

"Vincent..." Cloud mumbled in an unhappy way. "Are you expecting him... me... to be able to breathe in that thing?"

"I couldn't have brought you to Mrs. Strife now, could I?" came the mild retort. "Or would you rather I stuffed you into that pod in the library?"

Cloud got the point, so he backed down and stewed in silence.

"Don't worry," Vincent reassured. "I made sure it would be ventilated."

Cloud snorted. "Thanks, I guess. Since you brought him back, though, does that mean we've already somehow merged? Without my knowing?"

"This is the other thing Professor Odine was afraid of," said Vincent. "Whether the role of the primary personality will be taken by the past or future existence."

"Seems like a bit of both," Zack remarked, causing Sephiroth to regard him curiously. "I'm staying on topic!"

"It's not that," Sephiroth shook his head. "I thought you didn't believe the tale to begin with."

Zack shrugged. "Like you said, it's not entirely beyond the realm of possibility. 'Sides, it might start making more sense if I tried to join in."

"Zack is right," Vincent said right after that. "My existence is now a combination with a bit of both past and future. I retained all my memories and regained one of my past abilities. I have yet to notice anything else so far, so 'a bit of both' is just about there." Now he returned his attention to Cloud. "As for your question, no, you're not in danger of facing any merging yet. One of the conditions is that both parties have to be conscious. This triggers some sort of reaction that leads to the automatic combination of existences. I do not know if you will retain your memories like me, but I thought I should warn you about it before anything happens."

Cloud stared at Vincent. "How long will my younger self remain unconscious?"

Vincent considered this for a while, then said, "Until he thaws, I suppose."

Things were getting more and more bizarre. "I'm in an ice cube?"

"Mako cube, actually."

"Mako can be frozen and thawed?" Sephiroth just had to complicate things even further.

"Shouldn't we be more worried that Cloud's like frozen in mako or something?" That was Zack.

"Yes, and yes," Vincent replied them both. He looked at Cloud. "Any questions?"

Cloud's face was as blank as his mind currently, so he shook his head very slowly.

Nodding, Vincent continued, "Mako freezing is similar to materia crystallisation," he looked at Sephiroth, "but we will leave this subject for another time." He turned to Zack. "When freezing mako over someone or something, there is a thin layer of air around the object. Frozen mako is also porous, so air is not an issue. Neither is his well-being, if you're concerned. Mako is an excellent source of nutrients, it being from the lifestream and everything. It will sustain the boy until all its resources are exhausted, at which time it will then thaw and allow him to awaken."

Hearing Vincent's explanation made Cloud realise that he vaguely remembered reading about something like that in Odine's laboratory. This technology had very little use outside a few very specialised fields, however, so he hadn't completely committed it to memory at the time. Not to mention how hard it was to pull it off successfully. He wasn't surprised that Odine had that ability, but the fact that he was never going to see the eccentric scientist again made an uncomfortable weight form at the bottom of his stomach.

In the meantime, another thoughtful silence had settled upon the room. "So..." Zack was frowning and drawing circles in the air. "I'm gonna just go out on a limb and assume everything you said is true. That essentially means we don't have to worry about the merging thing for a while, right?"

"I suppose you could put it that way," said Vincent.

"And that leaves us where, exactly? What are we supposed to do now?"

Vincent shrugged. "My original plan was to ask Cloud to decide. The two of you getting involved was never part of it."

At this, all eyes turned to Cloud, who shrank back into his seat slightly at the sudden attention. "Umm," he struggled to find something to say, "what are my choices?"

"You can force the thawing process to start," Vincent suddenly brandished something black and remote controller-looking, "or you can take your time to decide and let the the process take its course naturally."

"How long would that be?"

"A decade or two, maybe."

Cloud stared at the device Vincent had tossed over. "There's no way to go back? No way at all?"

A brief hint of sadness flashed across Vincent's face when he heard the question. "I'm sorry, Cloud," he muttered. "Odine collapsed the timeline himself to force me to return to the past. I wasn't able to stop him."

Cloud snickered. "Sounds like him being his usual bizarre self all right," he said as he stood up. "I'm going out for a walk." He gave the two summons a hard stare. "Alone," he heavily emphasised the word. Without waiting for anyone to react, he left the room.

This time, both summons obeyed.

A while later, Vincent spoke up, saying, "Will you leave us be, now that we've answered all your questions?"

"You haven't answered them all yet," Sephiroth pointed out.

"True, but the point remains: Will you be leaving us alone after getting all the information you need?"

Sephiroth and Zack looked at each other. They turned towards Vincent at the same time and said in unison, "No."

Vincent had to repress his knowing sigh. For some reason, though, he felt slight relief as well, almost as if a tiny part of him wanted them to want to stay - for Cloud's teetering sanity, if nothing else. "We have a lot of time until Cloud returns," he tried to sound as unhappy as he could. "Might as well answer all your other questions while we're at it, then."

So the volley of questions and answers went on.

And Cloud would regret going for that walk, when eventually returned and found out the SOLDIERs now knew more about his (fictitious) life than he did.

Thanks a lot, Vincent!

**x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x**  
**27feb2013**

**sad to say, i'm easily affected by the things happening around me, so if i suddenly careen off into the void, it's probably just some things in my life being nasty to me again as usual. i'll crawl back up again, of course... i just don't know when. needless to say, it is my intention to finish this fic. eventually. just thought i should let you all know that. :)**


	24. Chapter Twenty-One

**Standard disclaimers apply.**

**Please be reminded again that everything in this fic is purely fictional!**

**x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x**  
**WHEN YOU WISH UPON A MATERIA**  
**x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x**  
**CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE**

Water.

He was in water.

Someone was saying something, but it was muffled by the sounds of the splashing he made as he moved his limbs.

So he stopped moving.

And then the voices became clear.

"What is your wish?" asked the one.

"I don't have one," said the other.

"I would not be here if you didn't," retorted the one.

"Then grant me it," huffed the other.

A bright light erased everything, including the water, from sight.

Cloud opened his eyes after the light had receded, to find himself staring at the ceiling of the inn room he was staying in.

"Bad dream?" Vincent asked from the windowsill, where he was staring at brightly lit central square outside.

All Cloud could remember was water, so he sat up in his bed and didn't attempt to reply.

Leviathan was on the table beside his bed, looking at him with an unreadable glint in its eyes. Phoenix had followed Sephiroth into another room that he and Zack took for themselves, so it wasn't around. Cloud remembered the water in his dream, and looked at Leviathan like it might have had something to do with it. The summon gave a few innocent blinks, then curled back up to sleep.

Cloud suddenly felt tired. So very tired. "It was a mistake," he declared, softly. "Coming back was a mistake. Everything's so messed up now, I don't know what to do anymore."

When he turned to the window, he saw that Vincent had left off looking at the square and was now looking at him. "You've said that many times before," he murmured, the stillness of the room amplifying the sound of his voice.

"What?" Cloud was confused. "I don't remember having returned into the past so often to be able to say that many times..."

"Not about coming back," Vincent turned away and resumed gazing at the town square. "About making mistakes."

Cloud looked down at his hands. "And I never manage to fix them all, do I?"

"You can't," said Vincent. "Not all the time. Even if you do have all the time in the world."

"How do I fix this?" Cloud asked, with a distant look in his eyes. "This is one of those things I can't fix, isn't it?"

"What are you trying to fix?" asked Vincent.

Cloud thought about it, but couldn't come up with a concrete answer. "I don't know."

"Then you can't fix it," Vincent shrugged. "We cannot return to the future, Cloud. You need to come to terms with that."

"I know!" Cloud insisted, though he was frowning. "But why did time have to collapse... why did everyone in the future have to /die/ so that I could live?"

"Cloud," Vincent narrowed his eyes at him. "That was Odine's choice, not yours."

"He did it to save me."

"He could have sent me back without collapsing time in the future," Vincent shook his head, "but he chose to do both. It was not your fault, Cloud. Stop trying to be responsible for everything."

Cloud just made an undecipherable sound. A short while later, he declared, "I'm going to Nibelheim," flung the sheets off, and hopped onto the floor. "I'll know what to do next... once I see him."

Of course, Vincent knew Cloud was referring to his younger self. "All right. Better that than you moping around, I suppose. Terribly bad for plot progression, at any rate."

"Are you a plot device or something? Why do you keep talking about the plot?"

"In case we lose it, you know," Vincent shrugged. "Can't have people forgetting the origins of this particular story."

Cloud gave Vincent a mock snarl. He walked to the door and opened it to come face to face with Zack.

"So, I heard about Nibelheim..."

"You are NOT coming with me," Cloud grounded out, before slamming the door in his face. He made a dash for the window. "I'll see you, Vincent!" said the blond. He leapt out of the window, landed on a waiting Leviathan, and together, they flew into the distance.

The door to the room opened. "Whoa, what's gotten into that kid?" Zack blinked at the disappearing dot in the sky.

"I think he's having an early-life crisis," answered Vincent, his eyes on the disappearing dot as well. "It looks like our next destination is Nibelheim then. I assume you can arrange for your own transport?"

Sephiroth was right behind Zack. Phoenix was on his shoulder. "You assume right," the general responded.

"Then I will see you in a day or two," Vincent nodded. He re-conjured Chaos' wings, stepped out of the window, and melted into the shadowy night sky as well.

Zack watched them fly off. "Why did Genesis and Angeal think they were so special again?"

Sephiroth didn't deign to answer. "Come on," he simply said. "We'd better start getting ready for the flight."

Phoenix crooned in agreement.

x-x-x

Unbeknownst to all of them - yes, even Vincent - Cloud didn't actually fly to Nibelheim. Well, it was along the way, but he hadn't intended on stopping there at all. Instead, he flew directly to the cavern in Wutai where he would later find the mime materia with AVALANCHE.

The cavern where he first lured Leviathan out in the future.

He navigated Leviathan to land in front of the cave, hopping off as soon as he determined it was safe to do so. Leviathan remained in its original summon size. Cloud didn't instruct it to go back to being small again. Instead, he took a few steps back so that he could look up at the snake, now hovering just slightly above the ground.

"It's all right," said Cloud, a small but fond smile on his face. "You don't have to restrict any of your abilities anymore."

A bright flash of light surrounded the summon, eventually dissipating to reveal the king of the seas in its full, scintillating glory.

"Nice to see you again," Cloud greeted. A short while later, he continued, "I remember why you're here now."

If snakes had eyebrows, Leviathan would be arching them just about now.

"So are you still working on it?" asked Cloud.

Leviathan tilted its head to a side.

Cloud closed his eyes.

And they were back in the Dirac Sea.

Sometime in the future, this would be how they meet.

Cloud is alone in the materia cave. Alone with his thoughts. Odine tells him it's better this way for concentration. Cloud decides he will amuse the man for a week or two. After all, the longer he lives, the shorter each day seems to become.

So he let his thoughts run as he waits, with nothing but MP as bait (is he even using MP? Cloud has no idea). As time stretches and his eyeslids start becoming heavier, so do his thoughts.

He is not sure how he gets roped into this. Something about monsters growing too strong for simple magic or physical attacks to matter. Summon creatures seem to be of some sort of help, but as Cloud and Vincent train more people to use them, the summon creatures start showing more and more signs of instability. Odine is convinced the humans using them are the unstable ones. Cloud is not so sure. But because he is such a responsible man, who feels responsible for every person on this planet, he agrees to help Odine out with his project, if only to debunk his theory.

For he is Cloud, and he is always on the side of the people. Even if he can live his life over again, that will always be the case.

He realises, though, as he thinks, that he knows very little about summon creatures in general. They are an oddity, for while materia relies on planet energy for power, the summons themselves do not appear to come from the planet. The planet tolerates their existence, possibly to aid with the monster hunting. Some summons seem to be sentient, but Cloud doesn't really know for sure, because they never really stay long enough for tea and idle chatter. Over time, Cloud has grown so used to their constant presence, that he is nowadays likening them to domestic pets. What with the way they are always at their summoner's beck and call, he does not think it is too much of a stretch to call them that.

"It used to be that we chose our owners, though," a regretful voice echoes through the cavern, jolting him out of his fatigue and forcing him to pay attention to his surroundings. There is a misty outline of a bluish creature floating before the spring where materia is slowly being crystallised.

Cloud slowly gets onto his feet. His eyes never leave the creature. He is familiar with the silouette. "Leviathan?" he asks.

"That is the name you people call me by," Leviathan nods its head. In a bright flash of light, it materialises. The length of its body almost fills the cavern to the brim as it curls around the stony interior. "What is your wish?"

Now Cloud is confused. "I don't have one," he instinctively replies, because there's always a catch when someone asks you a question like that. That much he has learned throughout his long life.

"I would not be here if you didn't," Leviathan rebutts. There is no censure or malice in its tone.

"Then grant me it," Cloud says, not quite believing his ears. "But how can you grant a wish that I don't know I have? Can you read minds?"

Leviathan slithers closer to Cloud. "Unfortunately, that is not a skill we possess. When a person summons us, however, it is usually by sheer force of will. Embedded in a person's will, is the person's deepest desire - unknown sometimes even to themselves. We who are the recipients of this call are bound by oath to respond. It always helps when our summoners can vocalise exactly what they need, of course."

Cloud looks at Leviathan, trying to figure out what its motive is. "Why do you do so much for the people of this planet, when you don't even belong to the planet?"

Leviathan actually straightens at that. "I find it offensive that you think me no part of this planet. We are a very misunderstood bunch, although technically I suppose you are right."

"What are you?"

"We are... companions," Leviathan sinks down into a relaxed pose again. "We exist to accompany our chosen masters. The Ancients."

This is definitely new to Cloud. "What happened?"

Leviathan rests its head on the floor, sighing dejectedly. "We're not very sure. Some of us weren't being treated very well by the Ancients, so they turned against their masters. The Ancients then decided seal us all up in the Dirac Sea to prevent future incidents. With their knowledge, they connected the Dirac Sea to materia, creating so-called summons. We were only allowed back to the planet if we bound ourselves with an oath to assist our summoner, returning to the Sea the moment our duty was done. It was never meant to be such. A companion stayed with its master until death separated them, assisting their master all through their life."

Cloud gives Leviathan's words a very long thought. "How is it that you're here now, when I haven't used any materia?"

The summon perks up. "The long and short of it is that materia channels the user's strong desire for a certain thing. The stronger the desire, the stronger the effect. However, that is just what it is. A channel. With time and practice, that channel can be done away with."

"People can cast without materia?" Cloud has to consciously stop himself from gaping.

"In theory it is possible," Leviathan nods enthusiastically. "The Ancients used to do it all the time."

"There are no more Ancients on this planet," Cloud shakes his head. "I'm not an Ancient."

"Why do you think Ancients were called Ancients?" Leviathan asks. "It is because they hold thousands of years of knowledge in their lineage. How old are you, Cloud Strife?"

Cloud is unable to answer. He has stopped counting after the first thousand. Instead he says, "So I've somehow summoned you to help me with something."

"I am still bound by the oath," Leviathan points out.

As he considers this, Cloud suddenly remembers that he's here because he's helping Odine with his research. "I know! I must have summoned you to get answers to some questions we've been struggling with about summons!"

Leviathan looks long and hard at Cloud. "I do not agree, but I will answer your questions."

So Cloud gives him a brief summary of the current world and the problem it faces with the unstable summons. "Do you know anything about that?"

"Ah," Leviathan seems to be stumped, but in reality is considering the question very seriously. "It may be that some of these summoners are trying to forcibly keep us in this side of the planet even after the summon has carried out its duty. If so, it wouldn't be the case of an unstable summon, but the case of an angry planet struggling to enforce the end of the oath."

It actually makes sense. "How can we stop it from happening?"

"Well, you need to educate the people that summoning is like," Leviathan pauses to find the right word, "making a wish. You make one wish, it happens, and that's it. If you want to make another wish, you repeat what you just did. We want to help people, it is what we are born to do, but not even we can break through the oath of the Ancients, for we were originally meant to be subject to them."

A sudden, dismaying thought strikes Cloud. "Can you die?" he asks.

Leviathan wavers slightly. "Time does not flow the way it does here in the Dirac Sea," it eventually says. "In a way, I suppose the Ancients have protected us when they sealed us there."

Cloud is sad to hear this, because he can empathise. "Is there some way to help you?"

Leviathan is surprised to hear that. "We will help you, not the other way round," it reminds him. "Though I suppose you could help me by making that wish and being done with it."

Cloud shakes his head. "I still don't know what I wished for to bring you here."

"I do."

"But you don't want to carry it out until I tell you to."

"It is because your wish involves... many stages," Leviathan says. "Some of the methods I will have to employ may not sit well with you."

Cloud wonders. "And what if I tell you to do it anyway?"

"Then I will obey."

Cloud wonders what can possibly go wrong. Plus, he's feeling adventurous today. "You're not going to kill me, are you?"

"Nope."

"Okay then. Do it."

Leviathan pauses, as if it's trying to sense the sincerity of Cloud's casual comment. "Very well," it eventually acquiesced.

"Your wish is my command."

A bright light engulfs the cavern.

When Cloud wakes up on the floor of the cavern, he no longer remembers the conversation he has had with Leviathan, nor does he know why there is a mini Leviathan poking his side, attempting to rouse him.

He makes his way back to Odine, to report the matter. Leviathan no longer speaks to him.

Until now.

"Yes, I'm still working on it," said Leviathan, its voice like a soft hiss that echoes through the silent Dirac Sea. "If you've changed your mind, though, I can refrain. You'll just be stuck with me forever, or until you decide to make the wish come true again."

"You're lying," Cloud scoffed. "The planet will rip you apart the moment it senses you've renegaded on your duty."

At first, Leviathan said nothing. Then in a slightly awed voice, it asked, "How did you know?"

"How many years do you think I've been living there?" was Cloud's not-very-amused reply. "I'm putting together all the pieces now. Vincent's return with my younger self; time collapsing in the future; that mysterious wish I didn't even know I made in the future; and the purpose of your existence. I don't think I'm wrong. Everything is in place for the execution, isn't it?"

Leviathan twirled lazily around itself. "It certainly is. I cannot guarantee what will happen after the action, though."

"Good enough," Cloud dismissed the Dirac Sea with his 'sheer will of force', as Leviathan would tell him in the distant future. They were back in Wutai, in front of the cavern. "What's life without a little surprise every now and then?"

The summon did not reply. It could not, it seemed, communicate in human language without a direct link to the Dirac Sea. It did, however, start floating higher and glowing very brightly.

"I'll see you again," Cloud was saying.

Leviathan tilted its head in a rather noncommital fashion.

Then it silently exploded into an unbearingly bright ball of light.

As the last connection to the Dirac Sea severed in Cloud's mind, he heard a faint but happy voice tell him,

'Goodbye.'

**x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x**  
**28apr2013**

**what? the story doesn't match the previous chapters? what? don't know you the ffvii series is infamous for its retconning? what self-respectable, canon-loyal crack fic wouldn't include some form of retcon to ensure that this time-honoured tradition doesn't fade into nothingness? really now! :)**


	25. Chapter Twenty-Two

**Standard disclaimers apply.**

**I seem to have caused a few brains to implode with the previous chapter. Sorry about that!**

**x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x**  
**WHEN YOU WISH UPON A MATERIA**  
**x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x**  
**CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO**

Ever since Vincent regained his ability to access Chaos' power, he realised that with some concentration, he was able to detect the locations of everything on the planet had some sort of lifestream or lifestream-derived substance in their bodies. He attributed this to Chaos' inherent nature as the planet's hunter. Rather than wonder why he had been saddled with such a responsibility again, however, he was busy being secretly glad.

For it made him well aware that Cloud had flown past Nibelheim and was showing no signs of stopping.

Cloud was like a blindingly bright beacon in his internal locator. He had so much lifestream in him, if Chaos were to activate search-and-hunt mode now, Cloud would most probably be its prime target. That aside, Vincent had to wonder what Cloud's intention was. He knew Cloud had been sincere when he said he wanted to go see his younger self. That could only mean that halfway through the trip, Cloud changed his mind.

It didn't matter much, of course, since Vincent was using his newly acquired internal GPS of everyone on the planet to follow his friend.

Soon, he saw that Cloud had stopped somewhere in the central Wutai continent. It didn't immediately occur to him what Cloud wanted to do there. He simply made sure he was on the same path.

After a while, he could see Leviathan in the distance from where he was above the western edge of the continent. Something didn't quite seem right to him, considering how Cloud had been determined to keep Leviathan's identity under wraps from the general public. To let it appear so conspicuously - and on the Wutai continent at that - was surely a recipe for disaster. Or a PR disaster, at least. Shaking his head, Vincent flapped his wings and sped up.

His internal GPS also told him that the SOLDIERs were behind him. And they hadn't stopped at Nibelheim either. Either they were following him, or Phoenix was using its own internal GPS to detect Cloud's location. Poor Cloud. Did no one respect his privacy anymore, nowadays?

Though, what with the way Leviathan was currently flashing, you didn't really need a GPS to figure out where Cloud was.

As Vincent neared the Wutai continent, all of a sudden, the beacon of light that was Cloud in his internal GPS flickered and disappeared. Caught off-guard, Vincent almost retracted his wings out of sheer surprise. He stopped the instincts from kicking in just in time to make a rather clumsy landing (for him, anyway) on the dry terrain.

Quickly, he scanned the area. Both Cloud and Leviathan were still there, seemingly locked in some kind of silent conversation. He had been so focused on finding Cloud that he had neglected looking at the other indicators of life. To his alarm, he discovered that he couldn't find Leviathan anywhere either, even though he was seeing it hovering in the air. He wanted to attribute it to the fact that summons weren't a part of the planet's ecosystem, but it seemed like a stretch, considering they were contained in materia. They never did complete that research about summons in the future, did they? Now they would never find out for sure.

Cloud was just up ahead, with his back turned. There was a palpable something clinging onto his silhouette, making Vincent somewhat hesitant to approach. He could not put a finger on the cause of this feeling. He was simply afraid.

Afraid, his mind helpfully supplied, of what he might see.

"Are you all right?" asked Vincent, when he had crept ahead enough to be sensed by his friend. There was no answer. Neither did Cloud turn around. "I thought you were going to Nibelheim?" he tried again.

This time, Cloud responded. "I'll be there later," he said, his tone hushed and voice neutral. "I suspect I might not have a choice in that matter, anyway."

Either the moon was very dark tonight, or Vincent's eyes were failing him. Cloud seemed to grow ever so slightly dimmer with every word he uttered. "Have you made your decision?" He didn't know why he wasn't asking about Cloud's growing dimmer instead. Something inside just told him that he shouldn't. Mustn't.

A thoughtful pause later, Cloud answered, "I think I have."

The distant flapping of wings indicated that Phoenix was approaching as well. "Is there anything I can do?" Vincent mumbled, feeling the air growing colder and colder. Something in his heart sank deeper and deeper as well.

Because Cloud had turned around halfway, and Vincent could hardly see the outlines of his features anymore.

"I think it's starting," said Cloud, rather vaguely.

Vincent curbed his internal panic. "The memory merge?" he managed.

"Hmm... maybe that too." Cloud tilted his head upwards to look at what Vincent presumed was Leviathan. Although reluctant to take his eyes off Cloud in case he suddenly vanished (it did seemed like he would), Vincent spared Leviathan a quick glance, just to see if the summon was all right.

It most certainly was not.

When he had looked at them from afar, it seemed like the summon was simply hovering motionlessly in the air above Cloud. Now that he was looking closer at it though, Vincent could see that it wasn't the summon itself that was hovering above Cloud, but a grainy outline of the summon that was slowly dissipating into the cold and heavy Wutaian night air. The summon had not been motionless. It was simply not there anymore.

It wasn't the pompous way summons usually disappeared in, so Vincent had to ask, "Has Leviathan gone back where it came from?"

"It's gone all right," the outline of Cloud nodded slightly, looking up at the disappearing summon, "but whether it went back or not, I have no idea."

"At least Odine's theory has been semi-vindicated, then," Vincent mumbled. "I can't say for sure how the merging happens, but I know you'll keep your sense of self, at least." His sentence was based on the assumption that Cloud had chosen to merge with his younger self, but at the back of his mind, Vincent knew he was forgetting something. What were the conditions for the merge to begin again?

Cloud was still half-turned, though he was now looking at the ground pensively. In time he glanced up at Vincent and asked, "What if I don't get to keep the memories that make me who I am? Either ways, what happens after that? Do I present myself to Hojo to be a test subject so that I get my former life back again? I don't think so, and I don't think you'd allow me to anyway. Yet if I don't," Cloud paused to take a deep breath, "then I'll be leaving you behind eventually, wouldn't I?"

"You don't have to worry about me, Cloud," Vincent reassured, although deep, deep down inside, he was really afraid of losing his longest, closest friend. But between Cloud's happiness and his own, he knew which one he would always choose. "And you shouldn't worry about something that hasn't happened yet, either."

"That is really weighty, coming from you," laughed Cloud. "Hey, you know. Will you still help me if I'm not me anymore?"

"I've told you before, possibly many times, that you will always be you," was Vincent's reply. "And I will keep telling you that as many times as I have to, so yes. I'll help you, even if you don't think you're you anymore. Even if we may not be together all the time, I don't think you'll ever be able to get rid of me from your life now."

Cloud sniggered. "Thanks," he simply said. His face suddenly turned blank, and nothing could be read from his eyes. "I'm holding you to that. As long as you're around, I think we'll be okay."

Vincent had to take a few moments to formulate his reply. "We?"

"Just a gut feeling," Cloud lowered his voice into a conspirational whisper. He didn't elaborate, but kept gazing up at the grainy remains of Leviathan's outline. "I hadn't expected that to happen at all."

Vincent could gather from the context that his friend was referring to the Leviathan that wasn't there anymore. "Did you ever figure out what it stayed on so long for, in the end?"

The flapping of Phoenix' wings had been getting progressively louder all this time, indicating the impending approach of the other entourage, and as Vincent asked that question, the sound of the wings now came along with intermittent gusts of wind. Cloud looked away from Leviathan to the direction of the flapping sounds, and Vincent looked as well. There was probably no need to look, however, for Phoenix shone like a fiery ball of flame in the dark skies, lighting up even the darkened ground beneath it. The summon hovered in the air, making no move to land. After a while, it made a turn and went to perch on a nearby mound. Far enough to give the duo some semblance of privacy, but near enough to listen in if the two SOLDIERs so desired.

It was hard to tell if Cloud or Sephiroth had ordered the bird to do that, so Vincent tried not to think too much about it. Cloud was now looking at him again. "It stayed to grant me my wish," he answered. "A wish I never even knew I had. Now it's gone because it's done what it set out to do, and I'm still not quite sure what wish it was trying to grant me. But I wasn't expecting it to just suddenly... disappear."

Considering everything Vincent had heard from Cloud about what Odin had said in the Dirac Sea some time ago, Vincent wasn't surprised to hear that Leviathan's reluctance to leave had to do with some wish too. "That's what all summons do after finishing their work here, isn't it?"

"Not like this, though," Cloud glanced up at the outline of Leviathan, which was still slowly being chipped away by the cool air. The wind from Phoenix's wings just now hadn't affected it at all. And if Vincent watched closely, he thought he could see the sparkles gravitating towards Cloud, who was looking more washed out than he had been at the outset, when Vincent first found him.

So this time, Vincent felt compelled to ignore the warning bells in his head to ask, "Is there any particular reason why you seem to be fading into the background?"

Cloud looked at Vincent, then down at himself. "Memory merge?" he tried.

"That shouldn't be happening yet, now that I think about it, actually," Vincent's head was starting to clear. His lucidity seemed inversely proportionate to the amount of Leviathan particles floating around in the air. "Your younger self is still in stasis. There is no paradox for the timeline to solve yet."

"You may be right about that," Cloud agreed. The Leviathan sparkles had broken away from forming an outline of the summon's figure and was now dancing around Cloud, sometimes dissolving into him. "Leviathan," Cloud began, "is probably behind this. Truth be told my memories are failing me. I know I should be telling you as much as I can now, but I can't seem to say anything. I can't remember... but I can feel. I can feel myself being pulled towards my younger self. Even if the timeline isn't trying to solve anything at the moment, Leviathan sure is."

"So Leviathan has triggered a merge then," Vincent nodded in understanding. "Being sensitive to your mindscape, I suspect it was able to sense what your decision was before you actually made it, and executed it on your behalf as a way of 'fulfilling your wish'."

"I know you're much smarter than me," Cloud grinned a little, and he suddenly sounded very young. "Maybe you can tell me what my wish is?"

"I'll admit I'm probably a little smarter than you, in the sense than an older person is usually smarter than a younger one," said Vincent, "but I'm no mind-reader. You may have to think about that one yourself."

"Not even a clue?"

It pained Vincent to hear Cloud sounding so small, so he obliged. "A wish is a deeply held desire, a closely cherished dream," Vincent explained, with a soft sigh on the side. "It often manifests itself in one's speech and actions, and may dominate one's thoughts. In my opinion, when you were initially sent back to this time period, your reluctance was a clue. Had you been given any other time period centuries before or after this particular one, would you have been as hesitant? My gut instincts tell me no, but that is question only you can answer for yourself. Is that 'clue' enough for you?"

Cloud laughed, really laughed after hearing that. He finally turned around to face Vincent fully. "So... let me guess. Based on my complaints and ramblings throughout my time here, you think I wish I could change the past?"

Vincent shrugged. "You were so afraid of accidentally doing something, that I believe you must have actually wanted to do something. Purposefully, of course."

"And maybe you're right," Cloud had the most wistful smile on his face. "But you know what? I think, I just wished I could live my life all over again. As a normal kid, with normal friends, and a normal life. And you know what else?"

Vincent didn't, so he waited.

"I still would've lived my way the same way again."

The residues of Leviathan chose this exact time to dissolve all at once into the by-now semi-translucent figure of Cloud. A bright glow obscured Cloud from sight for a quick moment. When the glare went down, Cloud was no longer there.

"Is that your answer, then?" Vincent asked the empty space before him. He gave it two seconds, before turning around with yet another dramatic flip of his cape to face the direction Nibelheim was in. "We'll have to see how well Leviathan helped you on that one."

Off to the side, Phoenix gave off a shrill trill that actually sent pulsating shockwaves through the continent and nearby waters and nearly knocked the unsuspecting Vincent off his feet. The summon flexed its wings upwards and continued to sing loudly into the sky. It was difficult to gauge the theme and mood of the song, for it vacillated between the low thrums of a dirge and the soprano of a victory tune.

Phoenix abruptly ended the song on a high note. It remained still and silent until the echoes of its singing could no longer be heard reverberating through the valleys and canyons of Wutai. With a powerful flap of its wings, it took to the air, circled twice, and flew off east.

Exactly where Nibelheim was.

It was also at this point of time, as Vincent watched the summon flying gracefully away, that he noticed the Cloud beacon in his internal GPS had returned, stronger than ever before. He had somehow managed to reappear in Nibelheim. Where Cloudy was. Of course.

The corners of Vincent's lips curled up into a rare smile.

"It's going to take a lot more than that to shake me off your life, old friend."

**x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x**  
**8may2013**

**hmm... two more chapters to the end... i think? i'm bad at estimating, so just take it as a ballpark figure. :) thanks for reading!**


	26. Chapter Twenty-Three

**Standard disclaimers apply.**

**x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x**  
**WHEN YOU WISH UPON A MATERIA**  
**x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x**  
**CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE**

Cloud Strife had always considered himself a rather ordinary boy.

Country boy background, check.

Embarrassingly short stature, check.

Trouble magnet character and hairdo to boot, check.

Hopeless crush on prettiest girl in town, check.

Grand delusions of becoming a hero and proving everyone wrong (whatever 'wrong' was), check.

Scratch that. He considered himself The textbook example of an ordinary boy.

Which was why when he woke up that day in the midst of crumbling debris, being stared down by two unfamiliar strangers who were just as confused about what to do with him as he was with them, the logical side of his brain blanched and shut down without much fuss.

When he took action against that huge machine as told by the professor who called himself Odine, he liked to think that he did it for the heroics, the chance to be involved in something big - finally. The fact was, though, now that he thought about it, he was simply doing it because he really wanted to be of some help. And of course, because the logical side of his brain kind of wasn't working at that time.

Such an ordinary reason, that.

Then he was asleep again, dreaming about becoming the hero of the world by defeating the evil Sephiroth who threatened the equilibrum of the planet time and again.

Like, seriously? Now Cloud was fully convinced he was really delusional.

Dreaming was sometimes like watching a movie you already knew the story of, except you didn't. At least, that was what it was like for Cloud, for this particular dream. He wasn't sure if dreams were supposed to be so vivid, so personal, or just... so real. He was developing relationships with people he knew he didn't know in the conscious world. People who were all too multifarious to be merely a figment of his young and underdeveloped subconsciousness. He was hearing of places he had never heard of before, and doing things he never knew he could do.

That meant it had to be a dream, right?

The dream didn't end or switch focus after he saved the planet. It simply went slightly further, about his life after that, where he travelled the planet as a deliveryman, meeting even more people and having even more adventures.

Cloud was starting to feel like he was living vicariously through his dream persona.

And he was a little disturbed by the idea.

So when his subconscious mind started questioning about whether he would live his life like this again if he had the chance to, his answer came as a surprise even to himself.

The dreams were affecting his viewpoints and ideals far more than he thought it possible. Where he would have simply said a cheery yes to a hypothetical question that had absolutely no chance of coming true anyway, he now rejected the idea and contritely decided to simply be himself, come what may.

Why would he want to live through the pain of so many regrets again, anyway?

As he grew older in his dreams, he began to wonder if he was really dreaming or really the dream. Unknown feelings and opinions became settled in his mind; lodged so comfortably there, it was almost as if they had been there since the very beginning.

'It's the merging,' older Cloud turned around in one of the dream frames to reassure him, whatever that meant.

Then as suddenly as the dream started, it ground to a halt. The dream began to rewind. At a certain point of time in this rewinding, Cloud noticed that the earth was quaking. Light suddenly flooded the room he was in. He was jolted awake rather unceremoniously.

Trying to open his eyes was a chore, but something in Cloud told him it had to be done. So he did.

He was lying in a box of sorts. The cover had been thrown off, which was causing the sudden influx of light. Blinking, he grasped the edges of the box and hauled himself into a sitting position.

Okay, so there were technically no lights in this room. The scintillating light source was that curious golden dragon looming over the box he was in.

He looked at the box again and decided it looked funnily like a coffin, funnily enough. Why would he be sleeping in a coffin? Something inside told him he knew the answer to that, but that section of his mind was currently behind rows of barbed wires and electronic locks.

Shaking his head, Cloud pulled himself onto his feet and surveyed the room he was in.

It had to be a burial chamber of sorts, considering the bones he could see scattered all around. There were other boxes - okay, coffins - placed around the chamber. The only other living thing in the chamber besides himself seemed to be the golden dragon, who was looking at him very intently.

"You're the dragon hatchling we saved from the rebels," Cloud said, then was taken aback. How did he know that? And who were 'we'? Or the 'rebels', for that matter? He took a closer look at the room again. "Ying and Yang aren't around today." He snapped his mouth shut after saying that and frowned at himself.

How was it that he was not knowing things one moment and knowing them the next?

After a few rounds of cyclic ponderings, Cloud figured that whatever it was, the musty chamber wasn't being very conducive to his musings. He would have to get back out to the open first. Maybe the fresh air would clear things up a little.

He sat up, meaning to hop out of the coffin and head for the entrance, but was distracted by the sensation of something slipping down from his chest. He looked at his lap and saw a couple of shimmering, translucent items there. Upon closer examination, he saw that they were the scales of some sort of creature.

The hulking golden dragon chose this time to make an appearance in his line of sight. Slightly annoyed, Cloud pushed its head away slightly. He grabbed the scales, hopped out of the coffin and headed for the entrance, which was wide open and charred at its frames. Tendrils of smoke were still curling up from the blackened areas. It looked like it had just been scorched by an inferno.

Pondering the culprit behind the vandalism of the door was pointless, Cloud decided. He very much preferred to examine the scales that had apparently been laid into the coffin with him, for whatever reason. The scales shimmered with an otherworldly glow and was practically thrumming in his hands. Cloud was no expert on planet power, but even he could tell that these scales held a certain something that was beyond his current realm of knowledge.

At least, until a name suddenly popped up at the back of his mind.

"These are Leviathan Scales," Cloud concluded, after his long examination and sudden revelation. "What am I supposed to do with them?" he asked the next available living creature - the dragon, who haplessly tilted its head to a side. "You weren't this size the last time I saw you," Cloud remarked. The dragon was a full head taller than him on its four feet. "Which was like a day or two ago, wasn't it?"

Why did he see the dragon a day or two ago, though?

Cloud decided he really needed that fresh air.

Stuffing the Scales into his pockets (he was still in his trooper uniform, he realised), he walked out of the chamber into a depressing corridor flooded with dim, purple lights. For some reason, he knew that the path on the right would take him back out into the open. And the path on the left should be avoided at all costs. So he set about to turning right.

That was exactly when a bird on fire flew past him into the room he had avoided going into.

Inevitably, Cloud turned around to see what that creature was. It was an orange bird the size and likeness of a peacock with a beautiful amber glow about it, like it was on fire without the flames. It stood at the threshold of the door leading into what Cloud could now see was a laboratory cum library of sorts, and chirped at him.

"Phoenix," Cloud said, remembering the summon and the circumstances that led to it being summoned. "You haven't gone back yet..." Gone back where, exactly? He couldn't recall. "What are you doing here?" He was rather sure the bird should be somewhere else, or with someone else at the moment, but the more he tried to grasp at the memory, the more it escaped him.

The bird didn't answer, except to chirp once more and give a mighty flap of wings that made it take to flight and set the floor beneath it on fire.

Cloud quickly took a step back, horrified and intrigued at the same time. His memories were like outstretched arms at the back of his mind, clawing and digging into it for a place to haul the main body on to, but always slipping and regressing when it made progress. There was something very important about this room that he was forgetting (good riddance, went a little voice in his heart), but he grew increasingly aware that there was no time to dwell on that anymore.

The fire Phoenix had somehow summoned was growing and spreading quicker than the threads of memories could advance, and soon the door and the area immediately visible behind it was going up in flames. Phoenix was already nowhere to be seen. Whether it was hidden by the fire or it had already escaped the scene, Cloud could not tell. The only thought that now filled Cloud's mind was that he had to get out of this place, and he had to get out of this place fast.

So he took one last long look at the room, and, after trying but failing to place the feelings he was experiencing, turned and fled down the corridor, the golden dragon hot on his heels.

The narrow and depressing corridor opened up to a spiral stairwell, and Cloud leapt up the stairs by twos and threes. The dragon tried to follow, but it was far too heavy and destroyed every plank of rickety wood it stepped on. Eventually, as Cloud was still vaulting upwards, he saw a flash of gold shooting up from the space in the middle of the winding stairs, which he deduced after a split second of thought was the dragon flying up after growing frustrated from all the missteps it was taking. He chuckled to himself.

He met the dragon again upstairs, at the bedroom which led to the secret chamber. It was a strange thing, because the thing was tall enough that its head touched the ceiling of the room at first, but began to slowly shrink - literally - before Cloud's eyes.

As the dragon grew slightly smaller, Cloud's blurry memories about the Nibelheim mansion grew clearer. He found that odd, and vaguely familiar. Nevertheless, he broke off from observing the dragon to looking at his surroundings. It was the Nibelheim mansion, the very one and only. He could still remember the scary stories the other kids were spreading about it around that campfire as clearly as he had heard it yesterday. But it most certainly wasn't yesterday. So when?

He just couldn't remember.

As he moved out of the room and towards the staircase leading to the lobby, more dark sections of his mind began to be illuminated. Each footstep told of a story he had long forgotten in dreams. A story he had yet to live through. The paradox didn't escape him, when he was sure it previously would have. Previously in what sense? He didn't know either.

As he stood on the corridor with the double winding stairs, he decided that this place was important to him. In his memories, there were a lot more footsteps than the ones he was hearing now. He could see images in his mind he didn't recognise, but was sure he knew.

"I need to think about this some more," he mumbled to nobody in particular (the dragon didn't count). And then he sat down on the old, musky planks and began to act as his own expository fairy.

He was Cloud Strife, a fairly ordinary (as much as it pained him to admit this) boy from backwater Nibelheim who had signed up with the Shinra military in a bid for fame and fortune. Last he remembered, he was in Midgar, preparing for the day ahead in his bunk room. Then there was a lapse and he woke up in some war zone and was instructed by a certain Professor Odine to help against the enemy. Then he woke up again and he was in this mansion with an inflatable live golden dragon.

If these new memories were to be trusted, however, it would seem like he returned to Nibelheim on a mission while still an infantryman and for some reason there was a lot of hurrying up and down that spiral staircase he just came up from (and was currently being licked up by the flames, if the crackling and snapping sounds were anything to go by). Was he still in the middle of that mission?

An idea struck him, and he searched around his pockets for his standard issue phone. After getting it out, he looked through his messages. There was the usual mail from the Silver Elite, Zack, and a couple from mission command. The Nibelheim one was still there, and there was one more after that directing him to meet his commanding officer at the lobby at 0745 hours on the same day. He didn't remember seeing this one.

So it looked like the mission to Nibelheim didn't actually work out, even though he was fairly certain he went on the mission. The details about what had happened escaped him at the moment.

If that was the case, what was he doing in the Shinra mansion in Nibelheim?

The dragon had settled down beside him by this time, curling its body up around the pondering Cloud, who noticed it was now bigger again.

What was going on with this dragon, anyway? His mind helpfully supplied that it was a Shinryuu, which sat at the highest position in the species chain. These dragons were near mythical and as far as he knew, no one had actually ever seen one for a long, long time. Now that was a memory that didn't come flying out of nowhere all of a sudden. He had studied about dragons when he was younger, as there were many in the Nibel mountains and his mother had insisted he learnt something about them.

Oh, yes, and these dragons. Apparently, they subsisted on memories. Stuff of the legends.

Haha, thought Cloud to himself about that. Then he looked at the resting dragon again.

"I'm almost afraid to ask," said he. "Have you been eating my memories?"

The dragon actually lifted its head up to look at Cloud, a bright spark in its eye.

Cloud tried to decipher that. He gave up after a while. "I need more information about dragons," he mumbled to himself as he got up from the dusty floor. The dragon got up as well. "About you, specifically," he continued.

A loud explosion caught both of their attentions. The door to the room with the secret tunnel had been blown apart by what must have been pressurised hot air, as Cloud could see that the entire room was now on fire. Nevermind the physics of that happening wasn't even remotely probable. How could anybody argue about physics in a world where people threw fireballs at each other by holding giant marbles? Really now.

It didn't take long for Cloud to figure out that he should be getting out of the house. His plans kept being disrupted that day, however, for there was another crash, and all of a sudden, Cloud found himself basking in glorious moonlight and crumbling roof tiles.

The fiery Phoenix had somehow blown the roof of the house away and was descending gracefully upon the dusty floor of the long abandoned mansion hall.

Cloud actually rubbed his eyes while the bird gracefully fluttered downwards. To his dismay, he wasn't imagining things. The bird was multiple times bigger than it had been when he last saw it torching the basement. Speaking of the basement, hadn't it been in the basement? How did it end up breaking through the roof of the house? Was this another bird?

He didn't have time to contemplate further, however, for Phoenix gave a shrill cry that sent pulsating shockwaves through the house, forcing him to hold his hands over his ears. It flapped its wings again, and within the next second, the walls of the entire house were engulfed in flames. With another flap of its wings, it took to the air, flying purposefully towards Cloud and the dragon. As Cloud saw the gigantic talons of the bird coming closer to him, he couldn't help but wonder why things - THINGS - had been happening to him recently.

At this point of time, all he wanted was to be a normal mountain boy again, dreaming his dreams of becoming someone special to the world and knowing he would never realise them.

Well, the way he was sailing through the air courtesy of the fiery bird was kind of dreamy, if he really wanted to view it that way. And there was a golden dragon chasing after them, to boot.

The dream didn't last long, though. Phoenix deposited him on the grassy area in front of the mansion before long, and he quickly scrambled to his feet. The bird slowly became smaller, until it was back to the size Cloud first saw it in. It circled around Cloud for a few rounds before finally settling on his shoulder.

Cloud had forgotten about the bird once he had clambered to his feet. His attention was drawn to the roaring flames that were consuming the Shinra mansion before his eyes. Even the clumsy fat golden dragon was looking at the dancing flames with a sort of curious awe.

He didn't know how long he had been staring at the raging fire when soft footsteps could be heard approaching him.

"Cloud?" asked a voice that was familiar and yet not.

Deciding that his admiration of the fire could wait (it wasn't going away anytime soon, after all), Cloud turned around to see who had addressed him.

There was a long silence in which Cloud noticed the golden dragon suddenly shrinking to the height of his knees from the corner of his eye. "You," Cloud said, very slowly, ignoring the dragon for now. "I know you, I think. You're Vincent, right?"

And then he was out like a light.

Vincent surprised himself by not moving, simply watching as Cloud crumpled gracelessly onto the arid land beneath. He was, himself, in a bit of a shock. Few were the times in their long assocation together that he had heard Cloud sounding as unsure as he just did, and none of those times had been easy for either of them. The best solution, even if he was loathe to admit, was to leave Cloud alone until he figured things out by himself and started looking for Vincent again. In this particular situation, however, Vincent wasn't sure if he was supposed to be doing that.

The dragon, now obviously in the shape of a baby, ran in between Cloud and Vincent the moment Cloud had fallen. It crouched in a position of wariness. Phoenix stood right next to Cloud, watching Vincent as well, although it was more curious than wary.

It was to this scene that the SOLDIERs arrived.

The first thing Zack did was to point an accusing finger at Phoenix. "Hey, bird-brain!" he yelled. "That wasn't very nice of you, dumping us on the mountains just like that and blowing up the reactor while you were at it! That's company property! Not that it's any of our business anymore... but still!"

"Phoenix let us down on the Nibel Mountains and went off somewhere by itself," Sephiroth explained to Vincent. He blinked at the mansion that was on fire. "I suppose it must have done this too?"

Vincent could only shrug. "It was already on fire when I arrived."

Another pillar of fire shot through the group, although all of them dodged it easily. It was the dragon, apparently trying to warn an advancing Zack to back off.

"I'm not gonna hurt him," Zack held both hands up in surrender. When the dragon showed no signs of backing down, he turned to look at Vincent. "What's up with this guy?"

It was Sephiroth who answered. "That... is the dragon we rescued from some Wutai rebels," he said with a frown. "How did it get here?" He made eye contact with Phoenix, as if requesting an answer from the summon. What he heard surprised him so much, he actually took a small step back. "What? Are you sure?"

"What, what?" Zack caught on to Sephiroth's discomfort immediately. "What's it saying?"

Sephiroth had calmed down by now and had lowered his head, covering his mouth with a gloved hand to indicate that he was thinking deeply about something. Something highly unsatisfactory, if his expression was anything to go by. "Phoenix," he began, rather uncertainly, "is saying..." he paused. "I'm not sure I quite believe it, but it's saying that Cloud... is dead...?"

The sharp intake of breath that next followed was Zack's. "You have got to be kidding me," he protested. "Ask it again! Maybe you got it wrong!"

As the SOLDIERs carried on in the background, Vincent looked at the fallen Cloud again, who had just been figuring out Vincent's name when he first arrived. "He's dead all right," he mumbled, but knew that the SOLDIERs would pick it up. "Dead to the manipulations of this planet, I gather that's what it meant."

Now that Vincent realised, the beacon of light that indicated Cloud had been so bright that he failed to notice something quite unbelievable when it first reappeared. Cloud's energy indicator was of a completely different colour from the rest of the creatures roaming the planet. In fact, it was of a different colour from his original one, which was already rather unique to begin with, although the lifestream had always been a shade of it. Which meant he was no longer a lifestream-based entity. Which meant... what, exactly?

"What do you mean by that?" Sephiroth asked.

"I cannot explain," Vincent answered. He really didn't want them, or anyone else, for that matter, to know that he had an internal beacon map of everyone on the planet, "but you can rest assured that he is most certainly not 'dead' in the literal sense of the word. I suspect Phoenix may have meant quite something else altogether."

"Well," Sephiroth was back in his thinking pose, "it doesn't really speak directly with human words, after all," he reasoned. "I might have gotten something lost in translation."

Zack put a hand on his chest. "Don't scare me like that," he shook his head at his friend. "Still, it's not like we can get near to Cloud to take a look without harming the little lizard," he sighed. "And I have the feeling it's just trying to protect Cloud."

"From what, though?" Vincent had to ask.

"Phoenix," Sephiroth suddenly said, "Phoenix is telling us to move away."

"Are you sure that's accurate?" Zack joked.

"I think it is," Vincent was already starting to move away. It was not hard to see why, for the bird was gradually becoming a scintillating ball of light. He had a feeling he knew what it was trying to do, and he wasn't quite opposed to it, so he gladly moved out of the way. Being caught in a Phoenix blast when you weren't on the proper receiving end could be quite the nasty experience. And it wouldn't harm Cloud, as he was its summoner. He was glad to see that the SOLDIERs had complied with Phoenix' request and had moved away as well.

So when Phoenix exploded into feathers and fiery flames, all of them were far enough to avoid being hit by the blast, but near enough to see that the explosion had been centred on the fallen Cloud, giving his outline a light glow that didn't completely fade even after the blinding light of the explosion had. The baby dragon, however, was unfortunately swept away somewhere into the distance by the fierce winds the blast had conjured up.

Vincent had no time to check if it was still alive with his database, though, for once the glow around Cloud eventually receded, he began to stir. He quickly moved himself back to the scene, and noticed that the others had done so as well. Now that the dragon was not around, they could render some actual help to Cloud if it was necessary.

Not surprisingly, Cloud was holding his head as he pulled himself up into a sitting position. "Ow..." he groaned and squinted. When he opened his eyes and beheld the three others looking at him with expressions on their faces ranging from cautious astonishment to subtle ire, he sat up straighter.

Then he chuckled.

"I have a lot of explaining to do, don't I?"

**x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x**  
**4sep2013**

**did that confuse you? yeah, it confused me too. did anyone catch the dissidia cameo? one more chapter to go, i think (hope)! :)**


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